From 

Broom 


Heather 


A  Summer  \n 


■  man  Castle 


ame:  .    leld 


HV. 


OF  CALIF.  LIBRARY,  LOS  ANGELES 


04 


WOT.  Of  CALIF.  LIBRARY.  LOfl  ANGELES 


FROM  BROOM 
TO   HEATHER 

A  Summer  in  a  German  Castle 


BY 

JAMES  TAFT  HATFIELD 


CINCINNATI:  JENNINGS  AND  PYE 
NEW  YORK:  EATON  AND   MAINS 


Copyright,  1903,  by 
Jennings  and  fye 


Stack 
Annex 


DP 


T  the  time  of  our  invasion  of 
Germany,  the  whole  country- 
side was  glowing  with  the 
blossoms  of  the  broom,  that 
"plantagenet"  which  has 
earned  for  itself  so  large  a 
place  on  the  pages  of  history;  when  we 
came  away,  the  wide  plains  were  at  the 
height  of  their  brilliant  display  of  gor- 
geous heather.  In  fact,  the  calendar  of 
our  whole  summer  in  rural  Hessia  was 
one  to  be  marked  in  terms  of  floral  no- 
tation. 

The  following  records,  written  among 
the  scenes  which  they  portray,  were  first 
printed  in  the  Chicago  Daily  News,  and 
I  desire  to  express  my  obligations  to  Mr. 


21.10457 


INTRODUCTION 

Charles  M.  Faye,  of  that  newspaper,  for 
his  courteous  permission  to  republish 
them.  To  "Miriam"  I  owe  the  title  of 
the  book — not  to  mention  other  things. 
September,  1903.  J.  T.  h. 


CONTENTS 

Chapter  Page 

I.   Taking  Possession,   -        -        -  -        -       13 

II.   The  Castle,   ---___  44 

III.  Our  Daily  Life,          -        -        .  _        _      75 

IV.  A  Sojourn  in  Berlin,      -  106 
V.   A  Tour  of  Exploration,      -  128 

VI.   Visitors  from  Home,     -  148 

VII.    Hessian  Life  and  Customs,         -  -        -     171 

VIII.   At  the  Water  Cure,  205 

IX.   The  Doomed  Villages,       -  225 

X.    Rothenburg  the  Mediaeval,     -  254 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Staufenberg, Frontispiece 

Page 

The  City  Gate, 19 

Inside  the  City  Gate, 23 

Principal  Street  in  Staufenberg,       -  29 

Convenient  for  Archers, 31 

The  Keeper  and  His  Family,  -         -         -         -  33 

Swineherd  and  Night-watchman,  37 

The  Keeper's  Lodge,        -----  41 

Entrances  to  the  Castle, 45 

Outer  Fortifications, 49 

The  Large  Hall, 53 

Slope  behind  the  Hill, 56 

Ernest  Ludwig,  Grand  Duke  of  Hessia,        -         -  61 

Ancient  Underground  Stable,  -         -        -         -  67 

The  Courtyard, -         -  77 

Staufenberg  Fields,           -  81 

Doorway  of  Kirchberg  Church,  88 

Courtyard  of  Ruined  Castle,    -         -         -         -  93 

The  Baker's  Cart,       ------  99 

The  Luther  Memorial  Church,  Berlin,      -         -  107 

9 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Page 

Royal  Palace  and  Cathedral,  Berlin,  -         -         -  1 19 

A  Hessian  Village, 127 

Farmhouse  at  Salzboden, 134 

Interior  of  K.i'rchberg  Church,           -         -         -  155 

The  Return  at  Evening, 163 

A  Veteran  Reunion, 171 

Harvesting  Rye, 177 

Back  From  the  Fields,     -        -        -        -         -  183 

Public  Bakehouse  at  Mainzlas,    -         -         -         -  189 

School-Children  at  Staufenberg,       -        -         -  193 

The  Afternoon  Procession, 197 

A  Goose  Girl, 201 

The  Village  of  Salzschlirf,  -         .         -        -         -  211 

The  Market-Place,  Griinberg,           -        -        -  229 

The  Cemetery,  Wermertshausen,         -        -         -  239 

Wermertshausen, 243 

The  Inn  at  Wermertshausen,      -  247 

Ruddingshausen, 250 

The  Family  of  the  Inn,         -         -         -        -         -  251 

Old  Posting-Coach,  near  Rothenburg,      -         -  255 

The  Outer  Wall,  Rothenburg,      -         -         -         -  257 

A  Street  in  Rothenburg,           -         -         -        -  261 

Old  Well  in  Rothenburg,     -----  265 

A  Painter  at  Work, 271 

Rothenburg  From  the  City  Hall,         -         -         -  275 


IO 


FROM    BROOM 
TO    HEATHER 


Chapter  I 
Taking  Possession 

ERE  we  four  are,  scarcely  re- 
alizing that  we  have  landed 
in  Germany  and  yet  already 
fairly  settled  to  our  order  of 
daily  life  in  the  quaintest  of 
all  imaginable  surroundings, 
just  three  weeks  from  the  day  when  we 
left  Chicago.  We  have  been  traveling 
all  the  time,  and  the  restful  and  delight- 
ful two  weeks'  ocean  voyage  from  Balti- 
more to  Bremerhaven  has  drawn  so 
heavy  a  veil  between  us  and  our  native 
shores  that  their  very  existence  seems 
like  some  half-forgotten  dream.  As  to 
there  being  any  bonds  of  duty  still  hold- 
13 


FROM    BROOM   TO    HEATHER 

ing  us  to  that  far-off,  vaguely  remem- 
bered continent,  the  idea  is  quite  too  un- 
real to  grasp.  We  four  exiles  are  not 
unpatriotic,  we  tell  each  other  from  time 
to  time,  and  our  really  vigorous  and  ag- 
gressive loyalty  is  merely  dormant  for 
awhile.  Let  no  one  blame  this  oblivion 
who  has  not  partaken  of  the  life  of  a 
community  perched  upon  the  higher 
slopes  of  the  Hessian  hills  and  within  a 
system  of  feudal  fortifications  which  go 
back  to  the  beginning  of  the  twelfth 
century. 

It  was  only  three  days  ago  that  we  ex- 
perienced the  charm  of  getting  to  land 
after  a  fortnight  upon  the  wilderness  of 
waters.  Even  while  the  steady-going 
Brandenburg  was  plowing  its  way  up  the 
broad  outlet  of  the  Weser,  we  were 
greeted  from  afar  by  the  sweet  fragrance 
of  the  blossoming  year  at  its  very  height, 

H 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

by  the  odors  of  clover  and  lilacs,  by 
blooming  lindens  and  fruit-trees,  by  the 
laburnums,  with  their  wealth  of  drooping 
clusters  of  yellow  blossoms,  and  by  the 
majestic  horse-chestnuts  with  their  per- 
fect candelabra  of  stately  flowers. 

Our  journey  overland  to  this  spot,  up 
the  valley  of  the  Weser  and  down  the 
valley  of  the  Lahn,  has  opened  up  an 
endless  succession  of  perfect  pictures: 
now  a  view  of  rolling  plains,  unmarred 
by  fences  and  disclosing  all  the  beauty 
of  waving  fields  of  grain  in  their  most 
attractive  tints  of  approaching  ripeness, 
now  a  glimpse  into  somber  evergreen 
forests,  where  through  the  tall  pink 
stems  of  the  pines  were  seen  the  cool 
depths  of  moss  and  rock.  The  hill-slopes 
are  all  ablaze  with  glorious  golden  sun- 
bursts of  the  "flower  of  the  broom,"  and 
every  bit  of  garden  spot  is  filled  with 
*5 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

rose-bushes,  with  the  red  and  the  white 
thorn-trees,  with  lilacs  and  "gold  rain." 
It  is  the  Germany  of  order  and  content- 
ment, of  settled  life  and  patient  industry, 
of  kindly  habits  and  simple  consideration 
which  has  taken  us  under  its  friendly 
protection. 

If  we  are  too  much  bewildered  by  the 
tide  of  unusual  sensations  to  be  able  to 
adjust  ourselves  immediately  to  a  sober 
life,  let  it  be  borne  in  mind  that  we  are 
undergoing  the  early  sensations  of  play- 
ing truant  from  the  strenuous  school  of 
Chicago  life,  with  its  incessant  whirl  and 
pressure  of  opportunity  and  responsi- 
bility. When  one  comes  to  look  at  the 
matter  face  to  face,  it  was  rather  a  daring 
plan  for  us  to  pull  up  violently  all  the 
roots  which  bound  us  so  meshily  to  a 
thousand  relations  of  settled  existence, 
and  to  transplant  ourselves  for  the  sum- 

16 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

mer  into  this  utterly  remote  little  com- 
munity, where  all  the  details  of  daily  life 
and  habit  are  about  as  alien  to  our  own 
as  though  we  were  in  another  planet,  in- 
stead of  in  another  hemisphere.  Think 
of  the  tremendous  weight  resting  upon 
the  shoulders  of  the  man  who  has  had 
to  conduct  three  young  women,  all  en- 
dowed with  a  very  lively  sense  of  the  pre- 
cise fitness  of  things  in  the  environment 
in  which  they  were  brought  up,  through 
all  the  changes  and  chances  of  the  jour- 
ney to  this  Promised  Land.  I  confess  to 
a  new  respect  for  Moses  and  Joshua,  and 
1  assert  myself  the  peer  of  the  California 
pioneers  of  '49.  The  intense  interest  of 
the  members  of  the  party  as  to  what  they 
were  getting  into  grew  more  vivid  with 
each  step  of  the  untried  way,  and  came 
to  its  climax  yesterday  afternoon  as  our 
train  swept  down  the  winding  valley  of 

17 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

the  Lahn,  each  new  curve  of  which 
promised  to  reveal  at  one  sudden  dis- 
closure the  picture  which  had  been  filling 
the  imagination  and  the  dreams  of  my 
expectant  flock  for  considerably  more 
than  a  year. 

"O,  is  n't  that  the  castle?"  cried  Por- 
tia, as  the  huge  ruin  of  the  Gleiberg  lifted 
its  great  shoulders  above  the  domelike 
crest  of  a  dark,  evergreen-crowned  hill. 

"Is  our  hill  really  going  to  be  as  high 
as  this  one?"  called  out  Miriam  from  the 
opposite  side  of  the  carriage. 

"Do  you  suppose  we  can  get  as  grand 
a  view  as  this  from  any  of  our  windows?" 
added  Patty  before  I  was  able  to  give  a 
rational  answer  to  either  of  the  other 
two. 

It  was  with  an  unbounded  satisfaction, 
no  less  genuine  than  that  felt  by  Colum- 
bus when  he  anchored  off  the  Bahamas, 

18 


THE  CITY  GATE 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

that  I  greeted  the  first  sight  of  Staufen- 
berg — tile-roofed  houses  clustered  to- 
gether, square  tower  of  the  ancient  city 
gate,  gray  castle  and  forest-crowned  hill- 
top— as  we  slid  past  the  little  station  of 
Friedelhausen.  During  all  the  months 
of  anticipation  our  fancy  had  been  busy- 
ing itself  with  the  pleasing  picture  of  the 
stately  castle  perched  upon  its  high  foot- 
hold, but  it  was  a  great  joy  to  find  it 
on  the  first  view  so  much  larger  and 
more  imposing  and  picturesque  than  our 
imagination  in  its  boldest  flights  had  pic- 
tured it.  Built  massively  of  dark  basaltic 
rock  and  red  sandstone,  its  steep  gable 
and  turrets  showed  their  shining  cover- 
ing of  slate,  which  gleamed  in  the  sun 
like  the  scales  of  a  dragon.  A  great 
round  battlemented  tower  forms  the 
chief  feature  of  the  front,  rising  from  the 
ground  to  the  highest  story;  round  tur- 
21 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

rets  crown  the  corners.  Round  the  cas- 
tle, but  lying  lower  on  the  hillside,  still 
partly  girt  by  its  ancient  gray  stone  wall 
and  guarded  by  its  tall  gateway  and 
tower,  lies  the  peaceful  little  community 
of  Staufenberg,  a  place  of  some  seven 
hundred  and  fifty  souls,  which  proudly 
maintains  the  dignity  of  the  legal  desig- 
nation '"Stadt,"  a  title  which  it  has  en- 
joyed for  many  ages.  Its  houses  are 
grouped  confidingly  around  and  below 
the  castle  inclosure,  and  are  made  with 
heavy  exposed  oaken  frames,  filled  in  by 
brick  and  covered  with  stucco.  They 
peer  out  from  among  trees  and  shrubs, 
and  the  entire  top  of  the  rounded  hill  is 
deeply  covered  by  a  somber  forest  of 
great  trees.  At  the  very  top  of  the  hill 
stand  the  ruins  of  the  older  castle,  de- 
stroyed near  the  end  of  the  Thirty  Years' 
War;  but  all  is  hidden  by  the  green 
22 


FROM    BROOM    TO   HEATHER 

branches,  except  some  irregular  pieces 
of  dark  wall  which  belonged  to  the  in- 
ferior parts  of  the  group  that  covered 
the  hilltop  in  feudal  times. 

All  these  features  showed  themselves 
as  our  train  hurried  on  to  Lollar,  the 
nearest  town,  lying  about  two  miles  from 
the  hamlet  on  the  hillside.  The  worthy, 
kindly  keeper  of  the  castle,  Ludwig  Dor- 
feld,  was  waiting  on  the  platform,  and 
was  easily  recognized  by  his  expectant 
look  of  cordial  welcome.  I  spent  a  few 
days  in  his  charge  at  this  place  some  six 
years  ago,  and  have  had  more  or  less 
negotiations  with  him  since,  and  the  only 
contentions  which  have  ever  arisen  have 
been  somewhat  stubborn  ones  as  to 
which  of  us  two  should  be  allowed  the 
privilege  of  paying  for  certain  "extras." 
I  might  as  well  forestall  all  legitimate 
curiositv  in  regard  to  our  occupancy  of 

25 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

the  castle  at  this  time  by  saying  that  the 
charges  to  each  of  us  are  three  marks 
a  day,  and  that  this  price  includes  ample 
and  wholesome  meals  with  the  most  will- 
ing service.  We  are  the  sole  residents, 
and  have  unlimited  privileges  as  regards 
the  amount  of  room  occupied. 

An  ox-cart  was  waiting  outside  the 
station  to  bring  up  our  five  trunks,  and 
the  Staufenberg  baker's  wagon,  trans- 
formed into  a  really  smart  jaunting-car, 
received  us  as  its  passengers.  The  steep 
uphill  journey  was  slow,  but  full  of  new 
sights  and  experiences.  As  we  rose 
above  the  village  of  Lollar  the  view 
widened,  until  we  overlooked  the  broad 
floor  of  the  valley,  with  its  winding 
roads,  bordered  with  fruit-trees,  its 
groves,  and  its  patchwork  of  carefully- 
tilled  fields.  We  caught  sight  of  red- 
roofed  village  after  village,  nestling 
26 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

among  green  orchards  upon  the  sloping 
hillsides  or  hidden  in  the  depths  of  some 
side  valley.  The  shining  river  gleamed 
along  between  verdant  meadows, 
spanned  here  and  there  by  graceful 
arched  bridges  of  stone.  Range  upon 
range  of  hills  filled  the  background,  some 
carefully  tilled,  some  dotted  with  groups 
of  thrifty  trees,  some  showing  little  com- 
munities perched  upon  their  summits, 
and  most  of  them  thickly  covered  with 
the  black-green  masses  of  ancient  fir- 
forests,  with  the  lighter  shade  of  younger 
trees,  or  with  oaks  and  beeches  in  their 
new  summer  foliage. 

The  vast  bulk  of  Gleiberg  Castle,  a 
complex  of  all  the  buildings  which  make 
up  a  complete  mediaeval  establishment 
in  unusual  preservation,  dominated  the 
southwestern  horizon;  further  back  the 
tall  round  column  of  the  tower  of  the 
27 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

ruin  of  Vetzberg  cut  the  sky,  and  at  a 
still  greater  distance  loomed  the  gigantic 
mass  of  the  Diinsberg,  the  highest  moun- 
tain in  this  Hessian  group,  shrouded  with 
the  mists  which  so  often  play  about  its 
summit.  Coming  still  higher  we  over- 
looked the  little  stone  parish  church  of 
Kirchberg,  going  back  to  an  unknown 
antiquity  and  standing  almost  alone  in 
its  leafy  churchyard  by  the  river.  Be- 
hind it,  in  one  of  those  beloved  gardens 
which  make  the  surroundings  of  the  Ger- 
man rural  pastor  so  idyllic,  was  the 
roomy  parsonage. 

Now  we  reached  the  steep  and  crooked 
lanes  of  Staufenberg,  and  held  on  as  well 
as  we  might,  while  the  cart  climbed  up- 
ward over  the  cobblestones,  and  we  im- 
poverished our  already  overworked  vo- 
cabulary in  exclamations  at  the  quaint- 
ness  of  one  feature  after  another;  at  the 
28 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 


buildings,  the  nooks  and  corners,  •  the 
costumes,  the  perspectives,  the  sky-lines. 
The  curious  old  place  had  changed  little 
in  the  six  years  since  I  had  seen  it,  and 
the  changes,  which  consisted  chiefly  in 
substituting  more  modern  and  comfort- 
able buildings  for  older  ones, 
while  not  particularly  helpful  to 
the  archaic  charm  of  the 
place,  were  by 
no  means  rad- 
ical e  nough 
to  detract 
from  it  to  any 
great  degree. 
The  younger 
inhabitants  of  the  place,  happy  and  dirty, 
made  very  effective  pictorial  groups  in 
different  spots  on  the  steep  lanes,  the 
girls  in  long,  bunchy  dresses,  the  boys 
round-capped  or  bareheaded.  They  stood 
29 


PRINCIPAL    STREET    IN    STAUFENBERG 


FROM    BROOM    TO   HEATHER 

about  the  lanes  or  peered  from  behind 
fences  and  hedges,  while  from  back  of  the 
rows  of  flower-pots  at  the  neatly-curtained 
little  windows  the  curious  faces  of  their 
mothers  looked  out  at  the  newcomers 
fresh  from  another  continent,  with  the 
spray  of  their  ocean  voyage  still  upon 
them. 

We  came  to  the  pointed  Gothic  arch- 
way of  the  ponderous  ancient  tower 
which  rises  above  the  city  gate,  and  en- 
tered its  dark  and  cavernous  depths. 
The  children  who  had  been  playing 
about  the  gateway  jumped  upon  the  nar- 
row stone  ledges  which  run  along  its 
sides,  and  flattened  themselves  against 
its  murky  wall  in  a  very  effective  Hessian 
frieze.  At  last  we  reached  the  frowning 
wall  of  the  castle  inclosure,  embrasured, 
battlemented,  and  provided  with  the 
wickedest  conveniences  for  the  shooters 
30 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 


of  crossbows  and  the 
dispensers  of  boiling 
tar,  and  halted  under 
a  hospitable  and 
spreading  walnut- 
tree  just  outside  one 
of  its  stone  portals, 
the  great  timbered 
gates  of  which  stood 
wide  open  in  wel- 
come. Down  the 
slope  which  leads  to 
the  terrace  behind 
the  castle  came  run- 
ning to  meet  us  the 
sturdy,  beaming  wife 
of  the  keeper  and 
his  only  child, 
Emmy,  a  daughter 
of  about  thirteen 
years.    From  the  ter- 

31 


FROM    BROOM    TO   HEATHER 

race  we  entered  the  main  floor  of  the 
castle  (the  front  side  goes  down  a  story 
and  a  half  deeper),  and  were  shown  our 
way  up  the  broad,  winding  stairs  of 
pinkish-brown  stone  which  fill  up  the 
thick-walled  round  tower  in  the  front  of 
the  building,  and  which  furnish  the  only 
means  of  going  from  one  story  to  another. 
An  ample  double  doorway  opened  into  a 
roomy  hall  at  least  twenty  feet  square, 
lighted  by  one  leaded  front  window. 

On  either  side  of  this  hall  were  our 
living  rooms.  The  one  occupied  by  the 
leaders  of  the  expedition  takes  up  the 
whole  corner  of  the  story.  It  is  so  large 
that  one  is  continually  in  danger  of  being 
lost  in  it,  and  Patty  maintains  that  get- 
ting dressed  there  is  like  playing  the  old- 
fashioned  game  of  stage-coach  or  "Going 
to  Jerusalem."  The  imposing  size  of 
the  room  is  further  added  to  by  the  three 
32 


FROM    BROOM    TO   HEATHER 

broad  window  niches  which  go  through 
the  thick  walls  (they  are  about  four  feet 
deep),  and  each  of  which  gives  space  for 
just  our  party  of  four.  From  them  we 
can  look  out  through  the  broad  stone 
casements  toward  west  and  south  over 
a  landscape  that  suggests  all  that  poets 
have  dreamed  of  paradise.  Our  good 
hosts  had  set  two  beds  in  the  room,  well 
supplied  with  new  bedding,  a  wardrobe, 
a  large  center-table,  a  sofa  of  red  plush, 
and  an  abundant  supply  of  chairs  and 
other  furniture,  although  the  room  looks, 
in  spite  of  all,  like  an  expanse  of  ocean, 
dotted  here  and  there  by  a  sail.  The 
window  recesses  were  shut  off  by  long 
lace  curtains,  but  happily  they  are  so 
hung  that  they  can  be  drawn  completely 
aside  so  as  to  give  an  unobstructed  out- 
look. Fortunately,  also,  the  floor,  which 
is  made  of  satin-like  strips  of  unpainted 
3S 


FROM    BROOM   TO   HEATHER 

fir,  running  in  unbroken  extent  the 
whole  length  of  the  room,  has  not  been 
covered  by  any  carpet  or  concealed  by 
paint.  Our  first  council  of  war  was  held 
upon  the  question  whether  we  ought  not 
to  have  a  large  screen  to  shut  off  the 
beds  from  the  rest  of  the  apartment,  and, 
as  a  result,  the  village  carpenter  was 
forthwith  summoned,  and  a  commission 
for  such  a  screen,  together  with  draw- 
ings and  specifications,  was  given  him. 
He  seemed  not  a  little  dazed  by  the  sud- 
denness of  the  affair,  and  among  other 
things  was  quite  unable  to  determine  the 
day  of  the  week,  so  that  we  wait  for  the 
result  of  his  workmanship  with  no  little 
curiosity. 

Our  first  meal  was  served  the  same 
evening  in  the  dining-room  below  stairs, 
and  contained  some  surprises  to  the  un- 
initiated— rve  bread  and  unsalted  butter 

36 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

are  both  very  satisfactory  articles  to 
those  who  have  been  trained  to  appre- 
ciate them,  but  I  noticed  with  pain  that 
none  of  the  party  except  myself  could 
make  terms  with  them.  However,  the 
fresh  eggs  and  tea  were  good,  and  no 
one  was  compelled  to  go  to  bed  hungry. 
It  was  probably  the  burden  of  respon- 
sibility on  my  shoulders  which  kept  me 
long  awake,  and  just  as  I  had  begun  to 
drop  asleep  there  sounded  at  the  foot  of 
the  castle  wall  a  blast  upon  a  horn  which 
seemed  to  be  the  last  trump  of  the  dead, 
and  startled  me  almost  out  of  my  senses. 
It  was  only  the  village  watchman  (who 
holds,  at  the  same  time,  the  honorable 
office  of  communal  swineherd),  going 
through  the  streets  and  sounding  the 
hour  of  midnight  on  his  powerful  hunt- 
ing horn.  This  has  a  soothing,  consol- 
ing effect  upon  the  natives;  but  it  drove 

39 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

slumber  from  my  eyelids  for  the  greater 
remainder  of  the  night.  I  remember  that 
when  I  began  living  in  Lucknow  years 
ago,  the  discordant  cries  of  a  night 
watchman,  combined  with  the  sardonic 
wailing  of  the  jackals,  robbed  me  of 
much  sleep.  After  some  days  the  watch- 
man was  relieved  from  his  duties,  and  my 
rest  improved  immediately. 

Not  long  afterward,  however,  the 
trouble  began  anew.  I  was  told  in  ex- 
planation that  the  wife  of  a  rich  man 
living  near  by  was  a  great  invalid,  and 
had  much  trouble  about  sleeping.  As 
soon  as  the  watchman  had  been  taken 
away  she  had  suffered  so  badly  from  in- 
somnia that  it  was  found  necessary  to 
bring  him  back,  and  her  nerves  were  at 
once  relieved. 

Inasmuch  as  I  managed  after  a  while 
to  get  accustomed  to  the  din,  and  even 
40 


FROM    BROOM    TO   HEATHER 

came  to  feel  a  delicious  sense  of  security 
in  hearing  it  filter  through  my  dreams, 
I  have  good  hope  that  we  shall  all  live 
down  our  first  sense  of  the  indignity 
practiced  by  this  solitary  guardian  of  the 
peace  upon  his  lonely  rounds  through 
the  crooked  streets  of  the  sleeping  little 
town — the  young  women  profess  to  en- 
joy his  serenades  already.  In  the  still, 
pure  air  of  this  height  his  notes  have  an 
unusual  and,  one  can  but  think,  an  un- 
necessary penetration.  As  all  entrances 
to  the  castle  and  its  inclosures  are  pon- 
derously barred  and  locked  nightly,  and 
as  the  keeper  lives  near  by  in  his  lodge, 
it  would  seem  not  unreasonable  to  hold 
that  our  safety  was  fairly  well  cared  for 
without  this  extra  precaution. 


43 


Chapter  II 
The    Castle 

UR  castle  was  built  in  1517, 
as  is  shown  in  a  well-pre- 
served inscription  carved  in 
high  relief  upon  an  oblong 
red  sandstone  tablet  beside 
the  chief  Gothic  gateway. 
The  coats  of  arms  upon  it  are  those  of 
a  Count  Frederick  of  Rolshausen  and 
his  wife,  Anna  Rau  von  Holzhausen.  It 
is  an  amiable  trait  in  the  German  peas- 
ant, that  when  he  puts  up  a  house  or  barn 
he  inscribes  it  with  his  wife's  name  as 
well  as  his  own,  recognizing  her  all-im- 
portant part  in  the  task  of  home-build- 
ing. The  same  trait  is  shown  by  our 
44 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

nobleman,  who  was  a  brother  of  the 
count  who  was  occupying  the  older 
castle  at  the  top  of  the  hill  at  the  time 
when  the  Unterburg  was  built.  The 
Rolshausens  were  a  local  noble  family 
which  for  generations  had  the  office  of 
stewards  of  the  counts  of  Ziegenhain, 
a  powerful  and  wealthy  race,  the  lords  of 
Staufenberg  as  well  as  of  many  other 
estates  throughout  this  region.  As  the 
counts  of  Ziegenhain  were  not  often  in 
residence  at  Staufenberg  for  any  con- 
siderable length  of  time,  the  Rolshausens 
were  practically  rulers  of  both  castles. 
Their  coat-of-arms  shows  a  crossed  pair 
of  paddles  or  oars,  and  is  often  found  on 
old  structures  in  Staufenberg  or  upon 
tombstones  in  the  ancient  church  of 
Kirchberg,  near  by  at  the  edge  of  the 
Lahn.  A  faded  portrait  of  Frederick 
hangs  in  the  hall  of  weapons  just  below 
47 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

the  room  where  I  am  now  writing.  It 
shows  a  large-featured,  stern-faced  man, 
clothed  in  armor  and  holding  in  his 
gauntleted  hands  a  helmet  tipped  with 
flowing  plumes  of  white  ostrich  feathers. 
When  the  upper  castle  was  destroyed 
by  the  Swedes  in  1647  our  building  was 
spared,  because  a  member  of  the  Rols- 
hausen  family  was  serving  as  an  officer 
in  the  Swedish  army.  About  1670  it 
came  into  the  possession  of  a  Baron  von 
Grass,  who  took  up  his  residence  in  it, 
and  whose  descendants  wrote  as  their 
family  name  ''Von  Grass  zu  Staufen- 
burg."  In  1780  it  was  bought  by  a  su- 
perannuated clergyman,  and  in  1801  was 
sold  for  900  florins  to  a  speculator,  who 
promptly  began  to  break  it  up.  The  lead 
upon  its  roof  was  sold  for  more  than  had 
been  paid  for  the  whole  property,  and 
even  the  steps  of  the  round  tower  were 

48 


FROM    BROOM    TO   HEATHER 

taken  away  for  use  in  a  hospital  at  Gies- 
sen.  Then  a  merchant  of  that  city 
bought  the  ruin,  laid  out  a  flower  garden 
about  it,  and  was  in  the  habit  of  making 
daily  trips  to  the  spot  on  horseback. 
After  his  death  another  citizen  purchased 
the  property,  and  erected  an  entrance 
lodge,  which  also  served  for  some  years 
as  a  restaurant.  In  May,  1821,  the  revo- 
lutionary students  of  the  University  of 
Giessen  made  a  secession  to  the  place 
in  a  body,  on  account  of  conflict  with 
the  troops  in  the  academic  town.  They 
spent  several  days  camped  in  sheds  and 
outbuildings;  as  a  result  the  obnoxious 
regiment  of  soldiers  was  removed  from 
Giessen  to  Worms. 

In  1858  the  two  Hessian  princes,  Lud- 
wig  and  Heinrich,  who  were  studying  at 
the  University  of  Giessen,  became  inter- 
ested in  the  picturesque  ruin,  and  bought 
51 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

it.  They  commissioned  Professor  Hugo 
von  Ritgen,  the  restorer  of  the  Wart- 
burg,  and  one  of  the  greatest  authorities 
on  mediaeval  German  architecture,  to  re- 
store the  castle,  its  surrounding  build- 
ings, and  all  its  walls  and  works  of  de- 
fense, in  a  style  which  should  strictly 
conform  to  the  original  designs.  The 
outer  works,  walls,  and  gateways  were 
already  completed,  when  in  1862  oc- 
curred the  marriage  of  Prince  Ludwig 
to  Queen  Victoria's  daughter  Alice. 
The  expenses  involved  in  building  a  new 
palace  for  the  English  bride  at  Darm- 
stadt were  so  great  that  it  became  neces- 
sary to  suspend  the  restoration  of  the 
castle.  Only  about  fourteen  years  ago 
the  present  young  ruler  of  Hessia,  the 
Duke  Ernst  Ludwig,  who  had  in  the 
meantime  succeeded  to  the  throne  and 
to  the  ownership  of  the  castle,  had  the 
52 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

whole  building  restored,  and  it  now 
stands  in  perfect  condition,  showing  in 
correct  style  the  features  of  the  place  at 
the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century.  The 
reigning  duke  still  owns  and  maintains 
the  property,  but  has  never  resided  in  it. 
Apart  from  the  heavily-built  founda- 
tion story,  which  abuts  against  the  hill 
on  one  side  and  opens  out  upon  a  green 
slope  on  the  other,  and  which  serves  on 
occasion  as  the  harboring  place  for  a 
large  flock  of  sheep  overnight,  the  castle 
has  three  stories  and  two  long  attics  or 
lofts,  extending  from  end  to  end  of  the 
steeply-pitched  roof.  The  western  end 
of  the  first  story  is  entirely  occupied  by 
a  large  hall,  the  walls  of  which  are  cov- 
ered with  portraits,  armorial  devices,  and 
an  interesting  lot  of  relics  of  the  days 
when  knighthood  was  in  flower — the  col- 
lection having  been  got  together  with 

55 


FROM    BROOM   TO    HEATHER 


the  assistance  of  the  Baron  von  Rabenau, 
residing  at  Friedelhausen,  a  neighboring 
chateau.  There  are  two  long  tourna- 
ment lances,  now  dropping  to  pieces  with 
age,  but  which  have  evidently  seen  hard 
usage;  the  heavy  weight  of  each  lance 
is  counterpoised  by  a  large  wooden  cyl- 
inder behind  its  handle.  There  are  pikes 
and  shields,  helmets,  halberts  and 
swords,  war  maces,  and  quite  a  number 
of  those  unlovely  hand-to-hand  imple- 
ments which  recall  the  merry  days  of  the 


56 


FROM    BROOM   TO   HEATHER 

Peasants'  War:  spiked  bludgeons,  "morn- 
ing stars,"  axes,  and  hammers.  In  the 
same  story  is  the  kitchen,  where  our 
meals  are  cooked  by  the  keeper's  wife, 
and  two  dining-rooms,  one  of  which  we 
make  use  of  when  the  weather  does  not 
invite  us  out  of  doors  to  have  our  meal 
upon  some  one  of  the  various  terraces. 
The  round  corner  tower  on  this  floor 
is  used  as  a  storeroom  for  various  arti- 
cles belonging  to  housekeeping.  Under- 
neath it  lie  the  secret  dungeons  of  the 
Burgverliess,  which  stand  unchanged 
since  the  foundation  of  the  place.  This 
morning  we  got  the  keeper's  wife  to  take 
us  into  the  storeroom,  and  allow  us  to  see 
the  dungeons,  the  existence  of  which 
would  not  be  suspected  by  the  chance 
visitor.  The  floor  is  covered  by  a  sort  of 
rug,  because  of  uncanny,  cellar-like  sug- 
gestions which  are  prone  to  steal  up  from 

57 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

the  depths  below.  When  this  was  rolled 
back  a  heavy  square  of  hardwood  showed 
itself  in  the  center  of  the  floor,  so  warped 
and  wedged  in  that  we  had  hard  work 
to  pry  it  up,  and  succeeded  only  after 
vehement  efforts  with  a  crowbar.  When 
it  was  removed  we  saw  nothing  but  a 
very  black  round  hole,  but  a  candle  fas- 
tened to  a  string  was  provided  and 
lighted  at  both  ends.  We  lowered  this 
carefully  into  a  cylindrical  chamber  eight 
feet  high,  built  of  solid  stone,  with  an 
arched  top.  In  the  floor  of  this  room 
was  another  round  hole,  through  which 
we  allowed  the  candle  to  go  still  deeper, 
while  the  different  spectators  expressed 
their  feelings  in  accordance  with  their 
respective  temperaments.  Patty  turned 
away  out  of  dislike  of  the  earthy  odor 
which  came  up;  Miriam  stood  about,  fas- 
cinated with  romantic  terror  at  the  mem- 

58 


FROM    BROOM   TO   HEATHER 

ories  which  cling  around  such  a  spot, 
while  Portia  watched  developments  with 
the  keenest  and  most  objective  scientific 
interest.  Nine  feet  lower  the  candle 
went,  before  it  rested  upon  the  bottom 
of  the  chamber,  which  was  empty,  except 
for  a  few  scraps  of  old  wood  that  had 
fallen  in.  A  lively  imagination  could 
easily  transform  them  into  bones  and 
such  things.  The  place  was  like  a  trap, 
out  of  which  it  was  absolutely  impossible 
to  climb,  and  we  were  all  more  than  will- 
ing to  close  the  cover  and  betake  our- 
selves to  the  bright  light  of  the  sun,  to 
the  hedges  of  wild  roses  and  the  blossom- 
ing locusts. 

I  confess  that  when  we  first  came  I 
had  some  apprehension  lest  the  members 
of  my  tribe,  hailing,  as  they  did,  from 
Xew  York  and  Chicago,  those  emulous 
centers  of  all  things  modern  and  express, 
59 


FROM    BROOM   TO   HEATHER 

might  be  unable  to  adapt  themselves  to 
conditions  which  prevail  nere  as  a  matter 
of  course.  From  the  days  of  the  Thirty 
Years'  War  Germany  was  for  many  gen- 
erations a  poor  country,  a  very  poor  one, 
in  which  the  chief  problem  was  to  keep 
elementary  life  going  by  hook  or  by 
crook,  and  there  remained  little  time  or 
means  whereby  to  gain  the  luxuries  of 
life.  An  inborn  enjoyment  of  nature,  an 
easy  conviviality,  a  priceless  endowment 
of  pride  in  honest  workmanship  did 
much  to  soften  the  rigor  of  the  struggle 
for  mere  existence;  but  mere  existence 
had  to  be  a  chief  aim  for  a  long  time  after 
the  close  of  that  terribly  destructive  con- 
test, which  practically  stamped  out  Ger- 
man culture  at  a  time  when  our  ancestors 
were  founding  colleges  and  writing 
books  in  the  New  England  to  which  they 
had  brought  unimpaired  the  magnificent 
60 


ERNST  LUDWIG,  GRAND   DUKE  OF   HESSIA.    OWNER  OF 
STAUFENBERG  CASTLE  6t 


FROM    BROOM   TO    HEATHER 

heritage  of  the  older  civilization  they  had 
left.  It  is  little  wonder  that  provincial 
Germany  has  accommodated  itself  to  in- 
conveniences and  makeshifts  which  to 
the  offhand  judgment  of  the  American 
seem  very  primitive.  The  great  material 
prosperity  of  keen,  industrial  modern 
Germany,  as  seen  in  such  centers  as  Ber- 
lin, has  not  as  yet  had  time  to  diffuse 
itself  through  the  remoter  districts. 

Moreover,  in  our  canons  of  criticism 
we  are  unconsciously  inclined  to  over- 
look the  inheritance  of  discomfort  at 
home  which  we  have  come  to  regard  as 
inevitable,  and  to  be  forcibly  struck  by 
that  in  a  foreign  land  to  which  we  are 
unaccustomed.  In  our  own  daily  house- 
hold life  we  do  and  omit  things  which  to 
the  German  mind  seem  absolutely  in- 
compatible with  comfort  and  happiness, 
and  honors  are  very  easy  when  it  comes 

63 


FROM    BROOM    TO   HEATHER 

to  striking  a  balance  on  this  side  of  the 
ocean. 

First  of  all  comes  a  matter  which  ap- 
peals to  everybody — that  of  food.  The 
German  cuisine  is  largely  adjusted  to  the 
liberal  use  of  alcoholic  drinks;  in  fact,  a 
German  dinner  frequently  presents  a  cer- 
tain number  of  dishes  grouped  about  a 
series  of  wine  courses  and  entirely  sec- 
ondary to  them.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  Americans  in  my  care  fairly  despise 
the  taste  of  things  alcoholic;  they  can  not 
away  with  them — and  this  is  a  matter  of 
ingrained  habit  from  their  earliest  days. 
Consequently  they  have  to  judge  of  Ger- 
man bills  of  fare  only  after  the  alcoholic 
element  has  been  subtracted,  which  is  a 
good  deal  like  the  play  of  "Hamlet" 
without  the  appearance  of  the  personage 
named  in  the  title  role.  And  so  with  a 
hundred  other  matters  of  taste  and  train- 

64 


FROM    BROOM    TO   HEATHER 

ing,  with,  of  course,  the  premise  that  the 
rural  Hessian  palate  is  in  general  less 
elective  in  its  choice  than  that  of  the 
American,  whose  first  working  principle 
is:  ''The  best  is  none  too  good  for  us." 
My  own  repeated  experiences  in  rough- 
ing it  in  various  parts  of  the  world  have 
made  me  perhaps  somewhat  incurious  as 
to  the  absolute  degree  of  refinement  dis- 
played in  the  cuisine.  I  have  occasion- 
ally reaped  the  ill-will  of  acquaintances 
whom  I  have  sent  to  hotels  and  board- 
ing-places which  I  liked,  but  which  were 
obnoxiously  primitive  or  penurious  in 
their  bill  of  fare  as  judged  by  other  per- 
sons' standards. 

All  my  doubts  have  been  removed 
here  by  adjustments  on  both  sides;  our 
entertainers  have  gladly  modified  their 
catering  at  our  request,  and  we  have 
come  to  accept  things  which  did  not 
5  65 


FROM    BROOM    TO   HEATHER 

please  us  at  first.  There  is  a  very  intelli- 
gent baker  in  the  village  who  supplies 
as  good  rolls  as  I  have  ever  eaten  any- 
where; in  the  keeper's  stable  are  two 
carefully  kept  cows,  which  are  the  pride 
of  the  establishment  and  which  furnish 
plenty  of  good  milk  and  cream,  while 
fresh  butter  is  churned  on  the  place  al- 
most daily.  The  ancient  subterranean 
cellar  back  of  the  terrace  serves  as  a  re- 
frigerator for  keeping  food  fresh  and 
cool,  a  vegetable  garden  in  the  "Zwin- 
ger"  below  our  windows  produces  abun- 
dantly for  our  table,  especially  a  liberal 
supply  of  fresh  lettuce,  and  the  meats  are 
beyond  all  reasonable  criticism.  While 
the  range  is  limited,  our  appetites  in  this 
fine  tonic  hill  air  are  growing  daily, 
and  we  come  ravenously  to  our  dinners, 
which  are  served  on  a  sociable  table  just 
large  enough  for  four  people.    This  meal 

66 


ANCIENT  UNDERGROUND  STABLE 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

is  always  opened  with  a  palatable  soup, 
which  reaches  the  right  spot  and  sug- 
gests more.  In  fact,  our  appetites  are 
now,  after  ten  days,  in  such  good  order 
that  my  conscience  troubles  me  not  a 
little  in  regard  to  the  other  party  to  the 
contract. 

There  has  also  been  the  matter  of 
warmth.  The  upper  stories  of  the  castle 
have  no  means  for  supplying  artificial 
heat,  which  can  not  be  looked  upon  as 
an  especial  evil  in  the  summer  months, 
and  yet  for  a  few  days  it  seemed  as 
though  we  had  never  been  comfortably 
warm  in  all  our  past  lives,  nor  were  ever 
likely  to  be  so  again.  The  art  of  warm- 
ing houses  has  never  been  developed  on 
the  Continent,  as  I  know  all  too  well, 
who  shivered  through  a  winter  in  Berlin, 
working  in  my  room  wrapped  in  a  heavy 
overcoat  and  changing  my  home  three 

69 ' 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

times  because  of  the  inability  of  land- 
ladies to  keep  a  contract  as  to  a  mini- 
mum recorded  temperature.  It  is  an  old 
story.  While  the  poet  Uhland  worked 
during-  the  winter  of  181 1  at  the  national 
library  of  Paris,  in  the  height  of  the  Na- 
poleonic wealth  and  splendor,  he  had  to 
warm  one  hand  after  the  other  over  a 
brazier  of  coals  in  order  to  keep  them 
from  freezing,  and  to  write  first  with  the 
right  hand  and  then  with  the  left,  thaw- 
ing them  out  alternately. 

There  is  a  good  side  which  results  in 
the  hardening  of  the  physique  of  those 
who  survive  the  low  temperature  and  can 
sleep  in  rooms  that  suggest  the  atmos- 
phere of  an  American  refrigerator.  The 
German  popular  consciousness  over- 
whelms with  scorn  the  weakling  who 
likes  to  spend  his  time  "behind  the 
stove,"  just  as  at  sea  the  supreme  epithet 
70 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

of  contempt  which  one  sailor  can  apply 
to  another  is  that  of  "galley  ranger." 
The  toughness  and  vitality  of  the  native 
type  doubtless  goes  back  to  this  Spartan 
regime,  and  we  saw  with  admiration  the 
dear  little  German  city  boys  of  twelve 
who  visited  the  castle  the  other  day  play- 
ing about  in  the  tall  wet  grass  in  the 
midst  of  a  steady  rain  without  arousing 
the  slightest  concern  of  the  teachers  who 
came  with  them.  Schoolgirls  come  in 
similar  weather,  wearing  thin  dresses 
with  low  necks  and  short  sleeves.  As  for 
ourselves,  we  are  fairly  comfortable  now, 
and  when  we  bestir  ourselves  out  of 
doors  in  the  inviting  sunshine,  as  we 
ought  to  do  most  of  the  time,  we  can 
avoid  chills  without  the  use  of  our  winter 
wraps. 

The    story    above    our    own    contains 
eight  large  rooms,  besides  hallways  and 
71 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

closets,  all  unfurnished  and  showing  no 
striking  features  except  the  large  double 
doors,  with  their  elaborate  hinges  of 
wrought-iron  work  (an  art  in  which  the 
Germans  surpass  ourselves  by  far),  the 
leaded  windows,  and  the  long  stretches 
of  smooth,  clean  flooring.  "What  a 
place  this  would  make  for  a  hop!"  sighed 
Portia,  who  is  fresh  from  an  Eastern  col- 
lege, and  has  had  her  own  lively  part  in 
all  the  doings  of  her  fraternity.  "Or  for 
an  initiation!"  she  added,  peering  into 
the  empty  little  circular  room  in  the 
round  tower  at  the  corner.  From  this 
story  a  staircase  goes  up  to  the  first  attic, 
which  is  used  as  a  "Kornboden,"  and 
contains  a  small  amount  of  grain  to- 
gether with  the  wooden  fan  by  the  help 
of  which  it  is  winnowed,  according  to 
good  Scriptural  analogies.  Out  of  this 
attic  go  glass  doors  leading  to  the  battle- 
72 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

ments  of  the  five  towers  and  turrets,  the 
roofs  of  which  are  covered  with  heavy 
sheet  lead.  We  are  free  to  go  out  upon 
them  at  all  times,  and  perhaps  the  sense 
of  proprietorship  is  stronger  here  than 
elsewhere,  for  the  sweep  of  landscape  and 
the  oversight  of  all  the  country  roads 
is  more  suggestive  of  the  lookout  idea 
of  castles  in  general  than  that  gained 
from  any  other  point  in  the  building. 


73 


Chapter  III 


Our  Daily  Life 

HE  chief  effect  of  the  heavenly 
beauty  of  this  charming  re- 
gion seems  to  be  a  sort  of 
realization  or  foretaste  of  the 
eternal  rest  of  the  saints,  for 
\ve  are  perfectly  content  to  let 
things  go  their  own  way  and  to  do  noth- 
ing. As  day  after  day  goes  by,  the 
thought  of  any  particular  effort  or  enter- 
prise becomes  less  tempting,  and  we  are 
satisfied  with  each  hour  as  it  runs,  forget- 
ful of  the  past  and  unmindful  of  the 
future.  I  am  pretty  sure  that  this  is  a 
wise  and  wholesome  use  of  a  vacation, 
however  many  inviting  attractions  are 
stretching  out  their  hands  in  welcome. 

74 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

The  tall  white  column  of  the  observa- 
tion tower  on  the  summit  of  the  Diins- 
berg  beckons  to  us  across  the  six  or 
seven  miles  of  pure  air  which  intervene; 
Wetzlar  with  its  romantic  associations, 
Grossen  Linden  with  its  ancient  church, 
Schiffenberg  with  its  cloister,  Krofdorf 
with  its  immense  forest,  Lohra  with  its 
storks'  nest,  and  hundreds  of  other 
quaint  and  remunerative  sights  are  re- 
minding us  that  now  is  the  time  to  make 
their  acquaintance,  but  no  one  of  us 
seems  anxious  to  make  the  first  move. 
What  is  the  use?  Our  days  are  amply 
filled,  as  it  is. 

At  seven  o'clock  we  waken  at  the  ring- 
ing of  the  bell  in  the  tower  of  the  city 
gate,  and  prepare  for  breakfast,  which 
comes  at  a  quarter  of  eight.  It  is  set  at 
a  round  table  in  a  large  room  on  the 
lower  floor,  with  wide  windows  looking 

75 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

out  at  one  end  upon  the  lindens  and  rose 
bushes  in  the  courtyard,  and  at  the  front 
over  the  steep  houses  of  Staufenberg, 
down  the  sloping  fields  toward  Lollar, 
and  across  the  river  to  the  pyramidal  hills 
crowned  by  the  Gleiberg  and  Vetzberg. 
For  breakfast  we  have  coffee  and  choco- 
late, fresh  rolls  from  the  village  baker's, 
honey  and  Scotch  marmalade,  the  last 
having  been  got  from  a  dealer  in  "Deli- 
catessen" at  the  nearest  provincial  cap- 
ital. Immediately  after  breakfast,  which 
is  always  cheerfully  lengthened  out  by 
unconstrained  talk,  we  have  got  into  the 
way  of  taking  a  turn  up  to  the  top  of  our 
hill. 

Just  behind  the  castle  is  a  series  of 
broad  terraces  of  different  shapes  and 
dispositions.  From  the  main  doorway 
we  step  out  upon  one  which  is  overhung 
by  lilacs  and  locusts  and  surrounded  by 

76 


FROM    BROOM    TO   HEATHER 

the  masonry  which  supports  the  other 
terraces,  while  a  broad  slope  carries  the 
road  down  to  the  entrance  gateway  and 
into  the  village.  On  this  terrace  is  the 
somber  arched  entrance  to  the  subter- 
ranean cellar,  which  is  much  older  than 
the  castle  in  which  we  live.  Von  Ritgen, 
in  his  learned  monograph,  states  that  an 
older  authority  has  recorded  the  exist- 
ence of  an  inscription,  "1405.  Freder- 
icus  de  Rolshusen,"  cut  above  the  door- 
way, but  adds  that  in  spite  of  the  most 
conscientious  investigations  he  was  not 
able  to  discover  any  such  carving.  A 
day  or  two  ago  I  climbed  up  to  get  a 
closer  view  of  this  dark,  moldering  stone 
arch,  and  found  in  its  crumbling  surface 
the  unmistakable  remains  of  a  Gothic  in- 
scription, doubtless  the  one  which  has 
just  been  mentioned. 

The  keeper  has  offered  to  clean  the 
79 


FROM    BROOM   TO   HEATHER 

grimy  stone  with  potash,  and  I  shall  be 
not  a  little  elated  if  it  proves  possible  to 
recover  what  had  been  so  completely 
lost.  The  keeper  says  that  he  had  never 
noticed  it  or  heard  of  its  existence.  It 
stands  in  a  rather  inaccessible  place,  and 
is  shaded  by  some  beams  which  support 
a  modern  roof. 

Built  out  from  the  supporting  ma- 
sonry against  the  hillside  is  a  long  open 
shed  made  of  heavy,  well-joined  timbers 
and  roofed  with  tiles.  Underneath  it  are 
tables  and  benches  where  visitors  to  the 
castle  take  refreshments,  which  are  al- 
ways obtainable  from  the  old  cellar  near 
by.  Over  the  roof  hang  pendent  trailing 
bushes  of  wild  roses,  red  and  white. 

A  few  feet  higher  is  another  large  ter- 
race, planted  with  shady  lindens  and 
horse-chestnuts.  At  one  side  there  crop 
out  from  the  hill  the  thick  crystalline 
80 


FROM    BROOM   TO   HEATHER 

columns  of  a  basaltic  formation,  which 
look  like  huge  organ  pipes.  This  for- 
mation underlies  the  whole  hill,  and  is 
common  in  the  region  round  about  us. 
Built  into  these  natural  columns  are  frag- 
ments of  old  ruins,  so  continuous  with 
the  native  rock  that  they  seem  to  be, 
like  it,  original  rather  than  a  creation  of 
men's  hands.  Equally  elemental  seems 
also  the  flight  of  worn  gray  stone  steps 
which  winds  up  among  the  dark  rocks 
to  one  of  the  higher  levels.  Overtopping 
all  this,  and  making  a  rugged  back- 
ground to  the  whole  scene,  is  the  great 
inclosing  wall  of  the  castle  grounds, 
which  is  interrupted  here  by  one  gate- 
way— a  large  double  door  set  in  a  square 
framework  of  ancient  weathered  red 
sandstone.  When  this  door  is  opened, 
you  think  only  of  the  gates  of  paradise, 
for  as  soon  as  you  have  thrown  its  rusty 

83 


FROM    BROOM   TO   HEATHER 

bolts  and  pushed  it  open  upon  its  grat- 
ing hinges  you  disclose  the  frame  of  the 
loveliest  picture  which  can  be  conceived 
of,  "sweet  fields  arrayed  in  living  green 
and  rivers  of  delight."  The  hill  falls  off 
so  steeply  that  no  foreground  is  seen; 
you  have  simply  a  look  off  into  an  end- 
less panorama  of  landscape  which  shades 
into  all  sorts  of  purple  tones  in  the  dis- 
tance. 

Before  going  through  this  gate,  how- 
ever, we  are  likely  to  go  up  on  our  favor- 
ite terrace,  a  high  walled-up  embank- 
ment or  bastion,  about  thirty  feet  square, 
protected  by  a  railing  on  every  side  so  as 
to  prevent  our  falling  out  of  the  grand 
duchy  of  Hesse-Darmstadt  into  the  king- 
dom of  Prussia  or  any  other  of  the  neigh- 
boring dominions  which  are  visible  be- 
tween the  trees  which  surround  this  plat- 
form.    We  are  on  a  little  higher  level 

84 


FROM    BROOM   TO   HEATHER 

there  than  when  in  our  own  rooms,  and 
look  right  down  on  the  top  of  the  roofs 
of  the  highest  houses  in  the  village. 

But  now  we  go  through  the  square 
gateway  and  come  into  the  perfect  park 
which  competely  covers  the  upper  part 
of  the  hill.  On  two  sides  this  hill  goes 
down  without  any  intervening  building 
to  the  rolling  plains  and  deep  forests  of 
the  valley,  while  on  the  lower  slopes  of 
the  other  two  sides  the  houses  of  the  vil- 
lage cluster  in  a  crowded  semicircle.  A 
brown,  well-beaten  path  leads  from  this 
gateway  and  nearly  encircles  the  hill, 
about  half  way  up.  Other  meandering 
paths  wind  toward  the  summit.  As  one 
comes  through  the  gate  he  notices  a 
steep  descent  to  the  valley  on  the  left, 
which  is  broken  only  by  large  masses 
of  flowering  elder  bushes,  while  the  path 
is  bordered  on  that  side,  and  to  some  ex- 

85 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

tent  held  in,  by  a  row  of  large  locust- 
trees.  The  steepness  of  this  side  is  made 
more  abrupt  by  the  encroachment  of  a 
quarry  into  the  basaltic  pillars  of  the  hill, 
but  the  invasion  has  reached  its  limit, 
and  the  sheer  edge  is  guarded  by  a  rail- 
ing. 

The  stone  is  useful  for  building,  and 
especially  for  road-making,  and  the  com- 
munity of  Staufenberg,  to  which  the 
quarry  belongs,  would  be  more  than  wil- 
ling to  extend  this  excavation  further 
into  the  hill.  It  happens,  however,  that 
many  years  ago,  when  a  few  Jewish  fam- 
ilies were  still  living  in  this  hamlet,  the 
slope  just  above  the  quarry  was  deeded 
to  them  for  a  cemetery.  All  the  Jews 
have  now  left  the  place,  and  there  is  no 
longer  any  sign  of  such  use  of  this  prop- 
erty on  the  grassy  and  rocky  slope,  where 
sheep  graze  and  geese  are  pastured,  and 

86 


FROM    BROOM   TO   HEATHER 

where  old  crones  of  the  village  cut  fodder 
for  their  cattle;  but  the  community  is 
unable  to  buy  back  the  title,  however 
gladly  it  would  do  so,  for  many  times  the 
original  price.  Not  many  years  ago  a 
well-to-do  Hebrew,  who  lived  in  Amer- 
ica, but  was  a  descendant  of  the  Staufen- 
berg  group,  put  up  a  monument  on  the 
slope,  no  doubt  in  order  to  keep  up  a 
claim  on  the  property.  Not  long  after- 
ward, during  a  bitter  anti-Semitic  agita- 
tion, the  monument  disappeared  between 
sunset  and  sunrise,  and  nobody  has  ever 
seen  a  trace  of  it  since. 

Passing  the  locust-trees  we  go  through 
a  tunnel  of  overhanging  branches — 
mountain  ash  and  laburnum — and  come 
to  a  grove  of  columnar  fir-trees,  which 
tower  on  high  in  superb  aloofness,  send- 
ing their  roots  underneath  the  path,  out 
of  which  they  crop  here  and  there  to  in- 

87 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 


vite  a  careless  foot  to  stumble.  Dark 
masses  of  moss-covered  rock  peer  out 
from  among  deep  ferns  and  green  sorrel 
and  glossy  English  ivy,  while  from  the 

trees  comes 
the  trilling 
ofinnumer- 
able  hidden 
birds.  The 
paths  which 
lead  more 
steeply  to  the 
summit  are 
provided  now 
and  then  with 

DOORWAY  OF  K1RCHI1ERG  CHURCH  gTOUpS     OI     Old 

stone  steps,  which  shorten  the  distance. 
They  all  converge  to  a  gateway  in  a  thick 
low  wall — plentifully  sprinkled  with  gray 
moss  and  delicate  ferns — which  once 
made  the  outer  works  of  the  upper  castle, 

88 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

and  following  its  circuit  on  a  level  path 
we  reach  a  point  where  it  makes  a  breast- 
work looking  down  on  a  sloping 
meadow  sweet  with  clover  and  feathery 
grasses  and  buttercups.  A  few  larches 
and  other  trees  stand  about,  but  there  is 
nothing  remaining  to  show  that  this  was 
the  churchyard  of  Staufenberg  about 
seventy  years  ago.  Every  trace  of  the 
unpretentious  wooden  church  has  disap- 
peared; the  bells  now  hang  in  the  gate 
tower,  and  the  little  pipe-organ  has  long 
since  been  taken  to  the  church  at  Oden- 
hausen,  a  couple  of  miles  away  in  Prus- 
sian territory,  while  the  Staufenbergers 
now  join  with  the  people  of  four  other 
communities  in  worshiping  in  the  an- 
cient isolated  church  of  Kirchberg. 

The  secluded  spot  reminds  us  of  the 
days  when  a  village  churchyard  was  often 
a  sort  of  fortified  camp  in  which  the  in- 

89 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

habitants  could  take  a  last  stand  in  case 
of  attack.  It  is  included  within  the 
scheme  of  castle  fortifications,  which  shut 
it  in  with  zigzag  lines,  and  show  a  med- 
ley of  battlements  and  gateways  and 
arrow  slits  and  holes  for  boiling  tar.  Old 
flights  of  stone  steps,  which  now  lead  no- 
where, once  brought  the  villagers  to 
their  place  of  worship.  From  this  point 
we  look  out  indefinitely  to  the  south  and 
east. 

When  Portia  went  away  the  other 
morning  for  a  tour  in  the  region  of  the 
Rhine,  we  sat  on  this  breastwork  and 
watched  her  progress  in  the  baker's  cart, 
with  its  stocky  little  white  horse,  as  the 
conveyance  shrunk  to  the  size  of  a  nut- 
shell and,  apparently  moving  at  a  snail's 
pace,  made  its  way  down  the  high  road 
to  the  peaceful  and  secluded  village  of 
Mainzlar.  There  we  made  out  the  sta- 
QO 


FROM    BROOM    TO   HEATHEP 

tion  at  one  end  of  the  place,  saw  the  little 
train  upon  the  branch  railway  creep 
down  the  valley  of  the  Lumda  until  it 
halted  in  the  village,  and  then  followed 
its  course  for  at  least  five  miles  as  it 
steamed  along,  now  and  then  hidden 
among  the  folds  of  the  lower  hills. 
While  we  sat  there  watching  the  depart- 
ing train,  the  solemn  tolling  of  the  bell 
of  the  village  clock  as  it  struck  the  hour 
of  nine  came  sounding  up  through  the 
fine,  pure  air,  and  sensibly  heightened 
our  elegiac  mood.  From  this  point  we 
saunter  by  one  path  or  another  past  the 
ruin  of  the  retainers'  houses  and  through 
a  portal  once  surmounted  by  a  tower. 
This  was  blown  up  in  1647,  and  lies 
about  among  the  shrubbery  in  large 
masses  of  masonry,  which  are  still  held 
together  tenaciously  by  the  original  mor- 
tar. Then  we  come  out  at  the  top  of  the 
91 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

hill,  upon  the  level  terrace  which  holds 
the  well-preserved  but  roofless  ruins  of 
the  ancient  castle. 

The  greater  part  of  the  terrace  once 
made  a  large  courtyard,  and  is  now 
planted  with  maple-trees,  which  give  a 
deep  shade  in  the  fiercest  rays  of  the  mid- 
day sun.  The  lower  branches  are  with- 
out leaves,  while  the  interlacing  crowns 
of  the  trees  make  a  solid  canopy  in  the 
air.  One  tree,  in  its  eagerness  to  reach 
the  light,  has  sent  a  large  branch  through 
a  window  in  the  ruin,  and  projects  its 
mass  of  green  into  the  interior  of  the 
castle  itself.  In  its  square  inclosure  we 
usually  play  baseball,  if  the  plain  truth 
must  be  told.  These  high  walls,  which 
once  echoed  the  sounds  of  feudal  life, 
now  give  back  the  cheerful  calls  of  the 
American  national  sport — I  hope  with- 
out desecration. 

92 


FROM    BROOM    TO   HEATHER 

We  are  never  too  tired  to  climb  the 
circular  steps  of  the  tower,  which  must 
be  a  hundred  feet  high,  from  the  open 
top  of  which  we  gain  the  widest  view  of 
all,  with  no  obstruction  from  the  Taunus 
to  the  Westerwald.  One  morning  we 
clearly  distinguished  fifteen  different 
towns  and  villages.  The  great  firs  round 
about  have  grown  so  tall  that  some  of 
them  have  had  to  be  cut  off  from  the  top, 
a  mutilation  much  to  be  deplored. 

So  much  for  our  usual  turn  after 
breakfast.  Then  we  betake  ourselves  to 
our  several  pursuits,  which  are  of  a  pre- 
vailingly literary  nature.  It  is  incompre- 
hensible how  many  letters  there  are  to  be 
written,  and  how  they  seem  to  take  up 
more  time  than  there  is.  About  half- 
past  nine  the  postman  climbs  up  to  our 
hill,  and  on  most  days  we  are  fortunate 
enough  to  get  American  letters.  From 
95 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

general  news  we  a^re  almost  entirely  cut 
off.  A  Frankfort  paper  (which  never, 
by  any  chance,  contains  an  item  of  inter- 
est from  home)  arrives  every  morning 
except  Monday. 

Noon  is  the  hour  for  formal  calls,  and 
was  given  up  to  this  ordeal  until  we  had 
gone  the  prescribed  round  in  the  region 
and  in  the  neighboring  university  town. 
An  American,  if  he  be  like  myself,  can 
never  quite  get  over  the  feeling  of  incon- 
gruity in  having  to  present  himself  as 
a  stranger  in  making  the  first  call.  The 
theory  is  that  if  you  are  anybody  you 
will  proceed  to  let  it  be  known  by  appear- 
ing at  the  homes  of  those  of  like  station 
in  life,  and  announcing  the  fact.  Other- 
wise you  are  let  severely  alone.  Our 
range  of  visits  has  included  the  friendly 
parsonage  of  the  district  church,  the 
local  physician  and  teachers,  and  a  few 

96 


FROM    BROOM   TO   HEATHER 

families  with  which  we  have  certain  con- 
nections from  bygone  days.  It  would 
not  be  proper  to  make  public  the  rela- 
tions of  personal  friendship,  but  I  can 
not  say  less  than  that  we  have  met  with 
great  consideration  and  with  most  grat- 
ifying manifestations  of  hospitality  and 
cordiality.  Our  friends,  new  and  old, 
have  opened  the  way  to  many  opportun- 
ities for  social  recreation  and  wider  ac- 
quaintance, and  have  been  more  than 
willing  to  help  us  with  suggestions  and 
advice.  The  chief  practical  obstacle  to 
keeping  up  continuous  associations  lies 
in  the  steep  height  on  which  our  castle 
is  perched. 

The  trip  to  lower-lying  districts  is 
practicable  to  most  of  the  party  only 
when  we  engage  a  conveyance  for  each 
way.  As  our  only  local  resource  lies  in 
the  transformed  cart  of  the  village  baker 
t  97 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

(which  makes  quite  a  neat  little  turn- 
out with  its  new  leather  cushions),  we 
have  to  arrange  somewhat  in  advance 
so  as  not  to  interfere  too  seriously  with 
the  supply  of  breadstuffs  in  the  adjacent 
region. 

Dinner  comes  at  one  o'clock,  and  is 
invested  with  various  tokens  of  formal 
ceremony.  It  is  always  announced  by 
the  keeper,  who  comes  up  the  winding 
tower  staircase  for  the  purpose,  and  who 
waits  on  the  table  in  person.  After  din- 
ner there  seems  to  be  a  general  inclina- 
tion to  sleep  during  the  heated  part  of 
the  day,  and  at  four  o'clock  coffee  is 
served  to  us  on  the  large  center-table  of 
our  living  room,  unless  we  chance  to  be 
invited  to  afternoon  coffee  in  some  de- 
lightful garden  among  our  friendly  ac- 
quaintance in  the  vicinity.  Then  there 
is  usuallv  a  walk  to  one  of  the  villages 

98 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

within  reach,  or  among  the  harvest- 
fields,  or  into  the  deep  forests,  or  along 
the  edge  of  the  river — the  length  of  the 
walk  depending  largely  upon  the 
strength  of  the  participants  and  the  heat 
of  the  afternoon  sun.  It  always  proves 
worth  while,  even  when  undertaken 
without  set  purpose.  The  mere  gather- 
ing of  the  wild  flowers — corn  flowers, 
poppies,  harebells,  daisies,  and  honey- 
suckles— is  sufficient  excuse  for  an  after- 
noon's ramble,  and  there  is  always  some 
extra  reward  thrown  in:  the  discovery 
of  another  frescoed  house,  some  carved 
gateway,  a  spectacular  Hessian  costume, 
a  new  point  of  view,  the  hearing  of  the 
lark  for  the  first  time  as  he  soars  and 
sings  out  of  sight  in  the  clear  sky.  Of 
course  we  vary  our  daily  routine  by 
longer  excursions  now  and  then. 

The  nearest  city  is  a  center  from  which 
IOI 


FROM    BROOM   TO    HEATHER 

railway  lines  radiate  in  all  directions,  but 
it  does  not  greatly  allure  us.  As  long  as 
we  are  contented  here  we  let  the  world 
go,  and  indulge  the  hope  that  its  way  will 
bring  sundry  of  our  friends  up  to  us,  in- 
stead of  requiring  us  to  come  down  to 
them. 

Our  tea  at  seven  is  taken  on  the  high 
terrace  behind  the  castle;  after  this  meal 
we  have  fallen  into  the  invariable  habit 
of  sitting  in  the  deep  recess  of  the  west 
window  of  our  large  living  room  and 
watching  the  indescribable  glories  of  the 
setting  sun  as  it  goes  clown  behind  the 
purple  hills  of  the  Westerwald.  The 
spectacle  is  always  varied,  always  un- 
speakably beautiful,  and  the  hours  fly  by 
imperceptibly  as  we  watch  its  splendors. 
If  Portia  or  Patty  see  fit  to  read  from 
Browning  or  Tennyson  or  Richard  Bur- 
ton, it  is  well  and  fitting;  but  there  is  no 
1 02 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

sense  of  duty.  The  red  disk  of  the  sun 
drops  behind  the  rim  of  the  mountains 
a  little  after  half-past  eight;  but  for  an 
hour  afterward  the  sky  is  bright  and  the 
daylight  sufficient  for  reading.  At  ten 
o'clock  we  reluctantly  light  the  bright 
lamp  on  our  center-table,  and  give  our- 
selves to  reading,  writing,  or  talking  for 
another  brief  hour,  which  closes  the  day 
— always  too  short  for  realizing  what  it 
has  brought  us. 


103 


Chapter  IV 


A  Sojourn  in  Berlin 


r  r- , 


FTER  five  years  I  have  come 
back  to  Berlin,  and  find  my- 
self completely  under  its  fa- 
miliar spell.  I  sympathize 
with  the  American  girl  of 
sentimental  tendencies  who 
wrote  home  to  her  parents  from  Venice, 
"I  was  out  on  the  Grand  Canal  last  night, 
drinking  it  all  in,  and  life  never  seemed 
so  full!"  The  railway  journey  from  Cas- 
sel  proved  unexpectedly  remunerative; 
all  the  glory  of  early  summer  lay  upon 
the  country,  for  the  season  is  belated  this 
year,  and  resembles  May  more  than 
June.  There  was  a  touch  of  freshness  in 
104 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

the  air,  everywhere  calmness,  and  de- 
light, and  charm  to  the  eye.  The  land- 
scape is  harmonized,  handled  with  vari- 
ety of  expression,  and  treated  with  faith- 
ful and  respectful  attention.  There  may 
be  those  who  deplore  such  care  as  tend- 
ing to  unnaturalness.  Well,  it  is  with 
the  landscape  much  as  with  woman. 
"Still  to  be  adorned"  may  drive  one  to 
a  "delight  in  disorder" — but  one  does 
prefer  to  have  the  idol  of  his  heart  pay 
some  attention  to  her  personal  appear- 
ance. Our  American  countryside  has  n't 
made  its  toilet;  it  is  frowzy.  The  better 
results  in  Germany  are  due  to  dividing 
the  surface  into  small  areas,  which  con- 
centrate the  attention  of  those  who  till 
them;  this  would  probably  appear  fussy 
and  circumstantial  to  the  American 
farmer.  Then  there  is  the  permanency 
of  things  here:  stone  bridges,  oak  tim- 
105 


FROM    BROOM    TO   HEATHER 

bers,  rows  of  trees  planted  for  coming 
generations,  civic  interest  of  small  vil- 
lages in  their  monumental  buildings, 
which  they  take  pride  in  maintaining  in 
good  repair.  Field  work  was  in  full 
progress,  vegetables  were  being  set, 
crops  hoed  and  cultivated,  hay  and  green 
clover  being  mowed.  The  women,  la- 
boring for  the  most  part  upon  their 
knees,  made  one  feel  that  this  nation  pre- 
serves its  landscape  better  than  it  does 
some  other  values. 

The  route  was  along  the  southern  bor- 
der of  the  Harz  Mountains,  where  my 
old  friend,  the  Brocken,  lay  sulking  be- 
hind the  haze  in  his  customary  manner. 
Our  train  passed  near  the  Kyffhauser- 
berg,  where  the  emperor,  Frederick  Red- 
beard,  is  said  to  be  sleeping,  waiting  for 
the  new  glories  of  the  German  Empire 
to  arouse  him  from  his  subterranean 
1 06 


THE  LUTHER  MEMORIAL  CHURCH,  BERLIN  .07 


FROM    BROOM   TO   HEATHER 

cavern.  The  imposing  monument  on  the 
summit  of  the  mountain  trembled 
through  a  roseate  sunset  mist  of  that 
light  which  never  was  on  sea  or  land. 
We  traversed  the  "Golden  Meadow,"  a 
district  inexpressibly  charming  for  its  fer- 
tility, and  went  through  the  mining  dis- 
trict of  Mansfeld,  where  Martin  Luther 
was  brought  up  by  his  miner  father,  and 
where  even  the  heaps  of  shale  at  the 
mouth  of  the  pits  are  kept  in  neat  and 
orderly  piles.  Then  came  the  monot- 
onous plain  of  the  Elbe,  and  at  midnight 
we  were  liberated  in  Berlin,  this  great 
throbbing  heart  of  modern  German  life. 
How  appreciate  and  represent  it,  with 
all  its  enormous  concentration  of  wealth 
and  power,  and,  above  all,  of  talents? 
There  is  something  about  Berlin  which 
imposes  upon  me  as  no  other  cities  ex- 
cept London  and  Paris  have  ever  done. 
109 


FROM    BROOM    TO   HEATHER 

Its  great  organism  seems  to  absorb  with- 
out compunction  whatever  comes  into 
its  reach,  and  to  be  always  ready  for 
more.  It  seems  as  limitless  in  its  possi- 
bilities as  the  forces  of  nature,  in  fact,  it 
seems  itself  to  be  an  elemental  power. 
It  has  a  festiveness  and  hilarity  which 
takes  it  out  of  the  class  of  Chicago  or 
Washington.  Washington  has  some 
statelier  buildings,  but  its  streets  lack  the 
unity  of  expression  which  those  of  Berlin 
show. 

The  city  gives  a  unique  impression  of 
having  thrown  away  the  past  completely, 
and  of  being  in  every  part  modern.  A 
few  of  its  conspicuous  public  buildings 
go  back  to  earlier  reigns;  but  everywhere 
is  the  pulse  of  new  enterprise,  the  signs 
of  replacing  that  which  has  answered  in 
an  earlier  generation  by  that  which  is  the 
very  latest  and  best.  For  a  number  of 
1 10 


FROM    BROOM   TO   HEATHER 

years  the  great  expansion  of  the  city  was 
accompanied  by  a  carnival  of  barbarously 
bad  taste;  it  was  the  heyday  of  overdone 
decorations  and  plaster  cornices;  but  a 
new  spirit  has  come  into  its  architecture, 
a  spirit  which  expresses  itself  in  joyous 
display  of  power  and  superabundant  lux- 
ury, but  which  at  the  same  time  brings 
to  its  service  a  cultured  and  discriminat- 
ing taste. 

There  is  something  overpowering  in 
the  endless  succession  of  enormously 
long  blocks  of  enormously  great  houses, 
each  possessing  individuality,  and  each 
lending  its  share  to  produce  a  concerted 
whole.  I  know  nothing  to  compare  it 
with  except  the  effect  of  our  World's 
Fair  in  Chicago,  where  every  building 
represented  an  original  plan,  and  was,  at 
the  same  time,  in  harmony  with  the  gen- 
eral spirit  of  the  affair  and  subordinate 
III 


FROM    BROOM   TO   HEATHER 

to  it.  A  walk,  for  instance,  through  the 
new  Luitpold  Street,  which  is,  in  plain 
English,  an  asphalt  thoroughfare  bor- 
dered by  apartment  houses,  reminds  me 
of  one  of  those  glorious  September  after- 
noons at  our  exposition,  when  all  the 
fountains  were  playing,  the  flags  flying, 
and  the  holiday  multitude  was  throng- 
ing about  the  Court  of  Honor  with  its 
palaces  and  bridges  and  statues  and  la- 
goons, while  floods  of  sunshine  from  a 
serene  sky  brought  out  all  the  color  and 
movement  of  the  exhilarating  scene. 
One  who  saw  it  might  well  be  content 
to  leave  the  exhibits  to  themselves  while 
he  watched  the  kaleidoscopic  spectacle. 
Here,  too,  the  imposing  design  of  each 
of  the  stately  houses,  their  relation  to 
the  street  and  to  one  another,  the  strik- 
ing sky-line  which  the  whole  group  of 
buildings  presents,  make  an  aggregation 
112 


FROM    BROOM    TO   HEATHER 

which  is  prophetic  of  the  city  of  the  fu- 
ture. 

Perhaps  I  am  dropping  too  readily 
into  the  somewhat  tropical  rhetoric  of 
the  circus  poster;  but  Berlin  furnishes 
just  such  impressions.  It  is  a  spectacle 
which  "is  always  going  on,"  and  this  at 
the  season  when  nearly  all  American  vis- 
itors have  betaken  themselves  to  Italy  or 
Switzerland  or  Austria. 

I  ought  not  to  give  the  impression  that 
Berlin  weather  at  this  time  shows  undis- 
turbed serenity;  on  the  contrary,  I  know 
no  place  which  packs  so  many  different 
sorts — rain,  sunshine,  wind,  clouds — into 
the  narrow  bounds  of  one  calendar  day 
with  such  incalculable  caprice.  In  the 
brightest  sunshine,  sitting  in  the  shade 
of  the  lilacs,  you  look  up  toward  their 
dark  foliage,  and  see  the  slanting  rows 
of  falling  drops  and  hear  them  plashing 
8  113 


FROM    BROOM    TO   HEATHER 

all  about  you.  All  meteoric  categories 
have  to  be  revised.  Take  your  umbrella 
with  you,  and  count  every  hour  of  sun- 
shine as  so  much  clear  gain. 

Of  the  greatest  interest  is  the  new 
movement  in  decorative  art  which  has 
asserted  itself  all  over  Berlin,  and  this 
within  a  space  of  a  few  years — almost  of 
a  few  months.  It  is  a  long-delayed  mani- 
festo of  original  taste,  of  the  free  artistic 
temperament,  against  the  heaviness  and 
dullness  of  traditional  styles  and  conven- 
tion. It  comes  indirectly  from  Paris,  but 
1)}'  way  of  Munich,  the  Jerusalem  at 
which  this  school  tarried  until  it  re- 
cruited enough  energy  to  sally  forth  and 
capture  the  metropolis,  and  for  the  day  it 
looks  as  though  it  were  doing  this  very 
thing. 

Much  of  what  is  best  in  regard  to  de- 
signs of  furniture  and  household  articles 
114 


FROM    BROOM    TO   HEATHER 

goes  back  to  the  school  of  Ruskin  and 
William  Morris  in  England.  As  an 
emancipation  from  the  rococo  any  move- 
ment would  be  welcome;  it  is  no  small 
service  to  have  opened  the  eyes  of  Ger- 
many to  the  revelation  that  there  can  be 
something  worth  while  in  architecture 
and  house  furnishing  and  decorative 
design  other  than  ponderous  and  florid 
imitations  of  the  late  Renaissance  style. 
Whether  the  creators  of  the  newer 
fashion  have  the  virility  to  lead  it  on 
to  a  progressive  development  may  be 
doubted.  At  any  rate,  the  servile  and 
tiresome  repetition  of  its  most  familiar 
motives  by  mere  imitators  promises  in 
the  near  future  to  become  far  more 
wearisome  than  the  most  constant  reiter- 
ation of  Greek  designs  could  ever  be. 

Of  all   the   active   expressions   which 
this    demand    for    freedom    in    art    has 

us 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

brought  out,  none  is  more  suggestive 
than  the  new  "Superior  Varieties,"  or 
"Ueberbrettl,"  the  dramatic  enterprise 
undertaken  by  Baron  Ernst  von  Wol- 
zogen,  a  talented  and  exceedingly  un- 
trammeled  representative  of  the  latest 
movement.  I  visited  it  a  few  nights  ago. 
As  soon  as  we  entered  the  hall  we  were 
aware  that  the  modern  craving  for  fresh 
stimulus  had  been  taken  into  account. 
The  floor  is  covered  with  a  rich  carpet 
of  unique  and  striking  pattern,  the 
chairs,  of  dull  black  wood,  are  a  study 
in  original  artistic  design,  and  the  stage 
curtain  is  of  heavy  velvet  in  an  uncon- 
ventional pattern  of  dark,  harmonic 
shades — mostly  gray  and  brown  and 
olive,  as  I  remember. 

There  was  not  a  single  detail  in  all  the 
items  of  furnishing  and  decoration  which 
did  not  appeal  to  the  eye  with  a  certain 
116 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

interest.  One  felt  that  the  place  was 
dedicated  to  the  recreation  of  superior 
people,  and  that  an  easy  spirit  of  good 
understanding  prevailed  on  both  sides  of 
the  house. 

The  delightful  sense  of  nonrestraint 
was  heightened  by  a  look  at  the  pro- 
gram, which,  instead  of  containing  a  set 
plan  for  the  evening's  entertainment, 
consisted  of  a  full  catalogue  of  the  com- 
pany's repertoire,  from  which  (as  the 
program  announced)  "a  sufficient  num- 
ber of  items  would  be  freely  selected  to 
fill  up  the  evening." 

When  the  time  to  begin  arrived,  Mar- 
cell  Salzer,  a  clever  Viennese  who  looks 
like  a  young  painter  or  sculptor  whom 
one  would  be  glad  to  be  on  good  terms 
with,  appeared  from  between  the  folds 
of  the  velvet  curtain  and  told  the  audi- 
ence, in  the  most  conversational  way, 
117 


FROM    BROOM   TO   HEATHER 

what  was  to  take  place,  and  recom- 
mended getting  as  much  entertainment 
as  possible.  A  good  deal  of  the  program 
was  directly  from  the  Parisian  cafes,  and 
not  startlingly  novel  in  its  ideas,  though 
given  with  decided  spirit.  The  most  ac- 
ceptable performance  of  all  was  the  read- 
ing of  a  few  witty  poems  by  Marcell  Sal- 
zer,  who  seated  himself  with  his  book  be- 
hind a  little  table  and  proceeded  to  read, 
that  was  all.  There  was  no  theatrical 
costume,  and  no  especial  attempt  to  in- 
terpret by  gesture. 

As  far  as  the  whole  evening  is  con- 
cerned, the  successful  demonstration  that 
popular  art  gains  its  ends  more  surely 
by  perfection  on  a  small  scale  and  by  in- 
tellectual distinction  than  by  lumbering 
sumptuousness  and  material  effect  was 
encouraging;  the  total  effect  less  so. 
The  spiritual  tone  was  often  cynical  and 

118 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

depressing.  When  Charlotte  Marga,  the 
youngest  member  of  the  troupe,  a  bright, 
pretty  girl,  dressed  in  a  costume  of  mod- 
ern artistic  design  which  it  was  an  un- 
mixed joy  to  behold,  stood  up  and  sang 
hard  little  songs  in  defiance  of  social  re- 
straints, she  was  a  goodly  sight,  but  the 
sentiment  grated. 

Just  five  minutes  before  coming  to 
that  entertainment  it  had  been  my  office 
to  break  open  and  read  to  the  Berlin 
family  with  which  I  am  staying  a  letter 
bearing  the  device  of  one  of  the  great 
hotels  in  another  city.  The  writer,  an 
animated,  highly  organized,  carefully 
trained  girl,  who  for  many  weeks  had 
made  the  central  figure  in  this  home,  had 
just  taken  her  own  life.  The  letter  was 
written  by  this  richly  endowed  young 
woman  a  few  minutes  before  she  fired 
the  bullet  which  entered  her  heart,  and 
121 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

was  addressed  to  another  intelligent  girl 
of  about  her  own  age,  though  somewhat 
less  favored  in  fortune  and  education 
than  herself.  "Keep  busy,"  was  the  last 
message,  "be  useful — how  small  this 
word  has  seemed  to  me  all  my  life!  I 
pushed  it  aside  on  each  of  the  few  occa- 
sions when  it  troubled  me."  Perhaps  it 
is  no  wonder  that  under  the  circum- 
stances the  smart  jests  at  these  home- 
lier virtues  failed  to  delight.  And  so 
with  the  endlessly  clever  and  perfectly 
acted  little  Ibsenish  comedy  given  at  the 
end.  Three  persons  were  involved — a 
husband  of  the  higher  Prussian  official 
class,  educated,  punctilious,  honorable  in 
his  official  responsibilities,  but,  because 
of  his  scrupulous  fidelity  to  detail,  en- 
tirely disliked  by  his  beautiful,  spoiled, 
irresponsible,  resourceless  wife.  The 
third  individual,  an  elegant,  captivating 
122 


FROM    BROOM    TO   HEATHER 

young  military  officer — the  old  story. 
The  prosaic,  almost  contemptible  ap- 
pearance which  this  conscientious,  over- 
burdened, somewhat  pedantic  husband 
made  in  direct  contrast  with  the 
sprightly,  saucy  intrigue  of  the  other  two 
goodly  figures  in  the  play  afforded  no 
end  of  hilarity  to  the  audience,  whose 
sympathies  were  altogether  with  the 
handsome  pair;  but  to  me,  in  my  per- 
haps somewhat  morbid  mood  on  that 
evening,  it  seemed  to  offer,  underneath 
its  bright  and  quick  situations,  the  sum 
of  the  tragedy  of  human  existence  and 
the  very  "tears  of  things."  It  was  un- 
speakably painful  and  bitter.  The  drama 
does  not  need  to  preach  nor  to  ignore  the 
facts  of  life;  but  let  it  be  something  more 
than  a  demonstration  of  the  wounds  of 
humanity,  which  groans  and  travails  to- 
gether in  pain  until  now.  Art  should 
123 


FROM    BROOM   TO    HEATHER 

point  out  some  sign  of  the  better  way, 
some  gleam  of  hope.  In  upholding  the 
law  of  beauty,  it  should  not  be  disloyal 
to  the  beauty  of  law. 

Nearly  all  the  Americans  have  gone 
to  the  south  or  the  far  north.  Ambas- 
sador White,  whose  fineness  of  nature, 
long  experience,  and  diplomatic  tact 
have  gained  the  unqualified  respect  of 
the  highest  representatives  of  German 
influence,  travels  back  and  forth  between 
the  capital  and  his  summer  home  near 
Dresden.  The  academic  and  literary 
circles  are  for  the  most  part  unbroken. 
The  veteran  author,  Friedrich  Spiel- 
hagen,  is  confined  to  his  home  in  Char- 
lottenburg  by  very  bad  health.  As  a  last 
item  of  news,  and  most  novel  of  all,  I 
remark  that  I  picked  up  yesterday  at  a 
bookstore  a  new  work  in  German  about 
the  United  States,  which  tells  the  truth 
124 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

objectively  and  in  an  eminently  satisfac- 
tory way.  I  never  hoped  to  live  to  see 
the  day,  but  it  has  come.  The  excellent 
little  book  is  called  "Characteristic  Traits 
of  the  American  People,"  and  it  is  by 
J.  Ludwig  Neve,  of  Atchison,  Kansas. 


125 


Chapter  V 


A  Tour  of  Exploration 

HE  glorious  June  days  were 
drawing  to  their  close,  and  at 
last  came  one  so  fresh  and 
clear  that  we  unanimously 
resolved  that  the  exploration 
of  the  interior  regions  must 
be  begun  in  earnest.  Our  itinerary  was 
planned  in  such  a  way  as  to  include  the 
remote  villages  of  Weipoltshausen  and 
Kirchvers,  which  lie  safely  tucked  away 
behind  the  dark  ridges  of  the  Prussian 
Forest.  Some  years  ago,  while  I  was 
spending  a  few  days  at  this  castle,  the 
school  teachers  of  these  quaint  hamlets 
had  brought  their  pupils  to  visit  Staufen- 
126 


FROM    BROOM   TO    HEATHER 

berg.  I  have  never  forgotten  the  gay 
costumes  which  they  wore,  and  had  long 
wished  to  see  the  inhabitants  of  these 
villages  in  their  native  home. 

The  length  of  the  proposed  walk 
frightened  away  most  of  the  company; 
but  Portia  was  unanimously  delegated 
to  go  with  me  and  to  co-operate  in  col- 
lecting specimens,  kodak  views,  and  ex- 
perience. It  was  already  half-past  eight 
when  Patty  and  Miriam  waved  us  fare- 
well from  the  brow  of  the  hill,  and  we 
scrambled  down  the  steep,  grassy  slope 
by  the  basaltic  quarry.  The  Golden  Rule 
for  all  walking  tours  is  to  make  a  very 
early  start,  so  as  to  take  every  advantage 
of  the  freshest  part  of  the  day.  We  were 
a  little  too  tardy  for  that;  but  the  ting- 
ling air  of  the  hills  set  our  pulses  cours- 
ing at  a  lively  rate,  and  each  swinging 
stride  along  the  highway  brought  a  more 

9  129 


FROM    BROOM   TO   HEATHER 

exhilarating  sense  of  being  out  on  the 
open  road,  the  most  generous  of  all  sen- 
sations. I  carried  a  knapsack  which  held 
some  extra  wraps,  a  few  breakfast  loaves, 
some  twine,  a  telescope  and  compass, 
reading  and  writing  materials,  a  botan- 
ical press,  and  the  official  military  map 
of  the  region,  while  Portia  had  charge 
of  the  light  folding  camera.  The  solidly- 
built  highway  which  winds  easily  down- 
ward to  the  edge  of  the  Lahn  went 
among  pleasant  fields  of  rye,  whose  gray- 
ish-green surface,  mottled  with  light  and 
shade,  undulated  in  swiftly  following 
waves  under  the  brisk  morning  breeze. 
Nearer  the  river  we  passed  under  a  slop- 
ing bank  topped  by  small  cliffs  of  red 
sandstone,  which  bore  upon  its  sides  the 
golden  masses  of  flowering  broom. 

Just  before  crossing  the  arched  stone 
bridge  spanning  the  Lahn  we  passed  the 
130 


FROM    BROOM    TO   HEATHER 

red  and  white  post  which  showed  that  we 
had  left  the  jurisdiction  of  our  landlord, 
Duke  Ernst  Ludwig,  and  were  entering 
the  old  duchy  of  Hesse-Cassel,  now  a 
province  of  all-absorbing  Prussia.  We 
could  not  keep  from  perching  awhile  on 
the  broad  stone  balustrade  of  the  bridge, 
watching  the  swift  flow  of  the  rushing 
river  as  it  swirled  past  the  heavy  piers, 
noticing  the  large  masses  of  white,  star- 
like flowers  growing  in  its  course,  and 
the  long,  green  aquatic  grasses  which 
waved  and  tumbled  like  the  fluttering 
locks  of  water  nymphs  and  mermaids. 
At  the  other  end  of  the  bridge  we 
came  to  the  village  of  Odenhausen,  and 
admired  the  quaintness  of  line  and 
grouping  in  its  houses  and  sheds  and 
courtyards.  Many  of  the  buildings  are 
painted  in  bright  colors;  often  the  panels 
between  their  dark  oaken  timbers  give 
131 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

space  for  conventional  decoration  in  the 
way  of  flower  pieces  or  animal  figures  or 
homely  proverbial  mottoes,  the  hand- 
work of  a  very  rustic  muse.  The  older 
inscriptions  are  carved  in  beautifully  pro- 
portioned Gothic  letters  into  the  hard 
beams.  They  all  breathe  an  edifying 
combination  of  piety  and  hard-headed 
shrewdness.  The  carefully  and  expen- 
sively built  home,  ark  of  the  family  for- 
tunes for  generations  to  come,  claims  the 
respect  which  belongs  to  sacred  objects, 
and  bears  throughout  this  region  the 
marks  of  a  religious  consecration.  The 
first  dwelling  which  we  noticed  in  Oden- 
hausen  bore  the  motto: 

"  Hier  will  ich  ein  wenig  wohnen 

Bis  mir  Gott  schenkt  die  Himmelskrone," 

which  is  of  equal  interest  for  its  other- 
worldliness  and  its  testimony  as  to  dia- 
lectic pronunciation. 
132 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

One  house  was  of  an  ethereal  aqua- 
marine blue,  another  of  a  pinkish  color, 
and  they  were  all  conducive  to  heighten- 
ing the  gayety  of  the  most  festive  of  June 
mornings. 

West  of  the  place  rises  the  bare  dome 
of  the  Alter  Berg,  easy  to  climb,  and 
from  which  there  is  said  to  be  one  of  the 
best  all-around  views  in  this  neighbor- 
hood. We  were  tempted  to  turn  aside 
for  this  opportunity,  but  pressed  on  re- 
gretfully upon  our  prescribed  course.  At 
the  upper  end  of  Odenhausen  we  were 
glad  to  leave  the  hard  glaring  regularity 
of  the  public  "chaussee,"  and  to  take  a 
small  rambling  road  across  fields  and 
meadows,  now  and  then  crossing  a  little 
rill  by  a  dark,  low-arched  stone  bridge, 
stopping  to  fish  for  water  plants,  or  to 
gather  the  graceful  columnar  sprays  of 
the  large  blue  harebell,  and  watching  the 
133 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 


antics  of  beetles  and  butterflies  or  the 
slow  progress  of  snails  and  orange-col- 
ored slugs  at  the  roadside.  After  cross- 
ing the  Salzbode,  a  brawling  tributary 
of  the  Lahn,  we  reached  a  shady  country 


road,  which  we 
followed  up  the 
side  of  the  swift 
little  stream. 
Among  tall  pop- 
lars, and  surrounded  by  a  thriving  gar- 
den, stood  a  romantic  mill,  and  from  the 
lower  ground  came  up  the  clatter  and 
splashing  of  its  wheel.  The  further  we 
went,  the  more  picturesque  details  we 
encountered.  In  the  village  of  Salzbode, 
134 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

lying  in  the  very  heart  of  the  fertile  little 
valley,  there  was  one  particularly  notice- 
able group  of  buildings  about  a  great 
yard  to  which  a  massive  gateway  of 
carved  timbers  served  as  entrance.  It 
framed  a  well-lighted  picture  of  the  inner 
court,  and  as  a  central  figure  sat  an  old 
peasant  woman  busied  in  paring  pota- 
toes, which  she  let  fall  into  a  tub. 

Portia  made  up  her  mind  to  have  this 
picture  in  a  photograph.  It  is  one  of  the 
advantages  of  the  hilly  sites  of  these  Hes- 
sian communities  that  you  can  almost 
always  find  some  little  height  from  which 
to  point  your  camera  advantageously. 
While  we  were  getting  the  range  we  in- 
discreetly asked  the  aged  woman  whether 
it  would  be  agreeable  to  her  to  have  the 
picture  taken,  and  were  put  into  a  some- 
what embarrassing  position  in  finding 
that  she  neither  understood  nor  trusted 
135 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

our  motives.  A  useful  working  rule 
proves  to  be  to  first  take  your  snapshot, 
then  explain  the  workings  of  the  ma- 
chine (which  is  always  received  with 
sympathetic  interest),  and  lastly  to  ask 
for  permission  to  take  the  view.  This 
avoids  offense,  satisfies  all  concerned, 
and  leads  to  excellent  results. 

Above  the  village  the  road  divided,  the 
main  way  following  the  edge  of  the 
wooded  hills,  which  shut  in  the  other  side 
of  the  rich  meadows  which  cover  the 
floor  of  the  narrow  valley.  We  kept 
upon  the  north  side,  upon  a  road  which 
soon  became  hardly  more  than  a  lane, 
entirely  overarched  and  overhung  by 
heavy  branches.  It  was  hard  to  under- 
stand how  the  drivers  of  carts  could 
make  their  way  through  without  being 
swept  off  by  the  drooping  boughs. 

Suddenly  I  called  my  companion's  at- 
136 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

tention  to  two  regular  notes,  sounding 
like  the  faint  blasts  of  elfin  horns  from 
the  innermost  depths  of  the  forest  on  the 
right,  and  introduced  her,  for  the  first 
time,  to  the  call  of  the  cuckoo.  "Cuckoo, 
cuckoo,"  it  sounded  out  again  and  again, 
while  from  across  the  valley,  out  of  the 
woods  on  the  opposite  hill,  came  back 
the  same  notes,  only  at  a  higher  pitch. 
The  surprising  similarity  of  the  call  to 
the  workings  of  a  Black  Forest  clock 
was  very  impressive  to  Portia,  and  for 
some  time  she  stoutly  refused  to  believe 
that  it  could  be  genuine.  "It  sounds  too 
natural,"  she  insisted. 

The  course  of  each  of  the  swift  streams 
through  these  hilk  is  thickly  beset  with 
mills,  and  it  was  only  a  short  distance 
higher  up  that  we  came  to  the 
"Schmelz,"  an  important,  busy,  prosper- 
ous-looking group  of  buildings.  By  this 
137 


FROM    BROOM    TO   HEATHER 

time  it  was  half-past  ten,  and  the  desir- 
ability of  getting  a  second  breakfast  was 
growing  more  and  more  evident.  We 
were  directed  to  a  garden  lying  in  pleas- 
ant seclusion  at  the  side  of  the  mill  race, 
and  turned  with  great  relief  into  its  cool 
and  shady  precincts.  We  made  our  way 
straight  to  a  rustic  table  under  a  big 
round  linden-tree,  the  branches  of  which 
made  a  perfect  canopy  of  fragrant  shade, 
through  which  the  mild  sunbeams  stole, 
and  where  the  birds  sported  and  chirped, 
while  the  delicious  balmy  breeze  of  the 
perfect  summer  morning  played  about 
our  foreheads,  refreshing  us  after  our 
last  strenuous  climb. 

The  heavy  knapsack  was  laid  off,  and 
we  engaged  in  friendly  conversation  with 
the  small  group  seated  under  the  spread- 
ing tree.  The  rushing  little  stream  was 
bordered  with  willows  and  shut  off  by 

138 


FROM    BROOM    TO   HEATHER 

a  graceful  rustic  palisade,  in  which  were 
several  light  gates  that  could  be  lifted 
from  their  supports  by  one  hand. 

After  the  hostess  had  searched  through 
all  her  stores  to  find  something  for  us  to 
eat,  and  had  found  nothing  more  tempt- 
ing than  smoked  ham  and  rye  bread,  she 
went  on  with  preparations  for  the  family 
dinner,  taking  a  basket  of  vegetables  to 
the  edge  of  the  running  brook  and  deftly 
washing  them  by  swirling  basket  and  all 
about  in  the  swift  current.  The  benevo- 
lent patriarch  of  the  place,  a  man  with  a 
shrewd,  kindly  Scotch  expression,  asked 
with  polite  interest  about  our  origin  and 
our  aims  in  the  region,  while  a  younger 
man  made  inquiries  about  one  of  his  ac- 
quaintances who  had  gone  to  America, 
and  was  last  working  (as  far  as  he  knew) 
in  a  piano  factory. 

The  idyllic  values  fell  a  little  when  the 
139 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

younger  man  got  on  a  bicycle  and  went 
down  the  road — not  that  there  is  any- 
thing objectionable  in  the  wheel,  but  it 
is  another  one  of  the  modern  improve- 
ments which  does  not  seem  to  fit  into 
the  quiet,  remote  old-German  landscape. 
The  modern  note  was  atoned  for,  how- 
ever, when  the  benevolent  patriarch  got 
into  a  creaking  wagon  with  ladder-like 
sides,  and  drove  his  team  of  cows  up  the 
hillside.  It  was  too  pleasant  in  this  fresh 
young  summer  morning,  under  the 
round  linden,  to  think  of  pressing  on  in 
haste,  and  there  was,  fortunately,  no  rea- 
son for  hurrying.  It  was  much  better  to 
sit  there  and  take  agreeable  cognizance 
of  a  flowery  meadow  across  the  brook, 
and  lazily  observe  the  line  of  thatched 
straw  beehives  under  the  shade  of  a 
group  of  trees  on  the  other  side.  A 
clipper-built,  saucy  water  wagtail  flirted 
140 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

smartly  and  daintily  upon  the  stones  in 
the  stream,  and  came  near  enough  to  us 
to  satisfy  his  curiosity  as  to  the  strangers. 
We  must  have  rested  a  full  hour  before 
I  took  up  the  knapsack,  and  we  started 
for  the  next  village,  Reimershausen, 
which  we  were  told  lay  up  the  valley  and 
could  not  be  missed.  We  crossed  the 
brook  by  the  little  foot  bridge,  went  over 
the  meadow  past  the  beehives,  and  took 
the  road  going  steeply  uphill,  as  it  was 
the  only  one  to  take.  We  stopped  only 
to  notice  the  dark  patches  of  heather, 
not  yet  in  bloom,  until  the  road  took  an 
unmistakable  turn  to  the  east,  and 
brought  us  to  the  borders  of  the  district 
of  Cassel,  a  little  matter  of  three  miles 
and  a  half  from  the  point  at  which  we 
had  aimed.  It  is  said  that  General  Grant 
always  chose  to  ride  ten  miles  across 
country  rather  than  to  turn  back  when 
141 


FROM    BROOM    TO   HEATHER 

he  had  missed  his  way;  but  we  had 
planned  too  long  a  tour  to  be  able  to 
treat  the  situation  in  so  grandiose  a  fash- 
ion, and  we  went  back  the  entire  solitary 
way  to  the  rustic  seats  under  the  round 
linden,  where  we  learned  that  the  road 
we  should  have  taken  was  a  mere  foot- 
path among  the  grasses  at  the  very  edge 
of  the  brook.  The  path  was  so  pretty 
that  we  straightway  forgot  all  vexation 
at  the  waste  of  effort.  At  times  it  led 
through  open  meadows,  but  for  the  most 
part  under  tangled  branches  of  hazel  and 
alder,  which  made  a  perfect  bower  of  cool 
shade.  At  a  point  where  the  little  stream 
became  boisterous  between  steep  banks 
of  rock  in  the  midst  of  a  dark  fir  forest, 
we  happened  upon  the  "Rauch  Mill," 
whose  noisy,  moss-covered  wheel  was 
flinging  sparkling  spray  almost  at  our 
feet.  The  mill  was  not  only  admirably 
142 


FROM    BROOM    TO   HEATHER 

picturesque,  as  it  lay  in  the  cool  nook, 
but  profitably  didactic  in  its  painted  mot- 
toes, one  of  which  might  be  rendered: 

1 '  When  day  breaks, 
Trouble  wakes; 
With  morning  fair 
Comes  new  care." 

Here  we  crossed  the  rocky  little  gorge 
and  took  a  field  path  to  Reimershausen, 
which  stands  on  a  sort  of  embankment 
shut  in  by  a  high  hedge  of  trees.  The 
midday  sun  soon  began  to  blaze,  and  we 
found  the  next  two  miles,  upon  an  un- 
shaded highway,  the  most  difficult  part 
of  the  day's  work.  Very  grateful  we 
were  when  we  at  last  reached  the  little 
town  of  Kirchvers.  Its  narrow,  wind- 
ing streets  were  for  the  most  part  filled 
with  geese  and  spectacular  children  in 
gorgeous  chromatic  costumes. 

The  most  striking  feature  of  the  place 
is  the  clumsy  little  church,  with  a  thick, 
H3 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

blunt  tower  which  looks  like  a  great 
thumb  pushed  up  from  among  the  trees. 
Its  massive  walls  are  propped  up  by 
heavy  stone  buttresses,  and  its  crude 
little  biblical  and  allegorical  frescoes  are 
grotesque  beyond  all  power  of  descrip- 
tion. I  photographed  it  from  an  empty 
hay  wagon  at  the  side  of  a  neat  timbered 
cottage,  with  steps  of  well-worn  red 
sandstone,  and  was  watched  with  interest 
by  a  comely  young  woman  in  operatic 
peasant  costume,  who  looked  out  above 
the  lower  half  of  the  divided  front  door. 
After  some  natural  feminine  protests  as 
to  the  state  of  her  hair,  she  was  good 
enough  to  stand  for  her  portrait,  which 
makes  a  very  characteristic  souvenir  of 
our  visit.  "\Ye  were  sorry  to  learn  that 
the  teachers  whom  I  had  met  six  years 
ago  had  long  since  been  transferred  to 
distant  scenes  of  usefulness. 
144 


FROM    BROOM    TO   HEATHER 

Our  efforts  to  find  anything  eatable  in 
the  village  were  entirely  unsuccessful,  so 
we  decided  to  climb  directly  up  the 
steep  wooded  mountain  which  separates 
Kirchvers  from  the  valley  of  the  Lahn. 
We  soon  learned,  while  asking  direc- 
tions, that  it  is  a  perilous  thing  to  venture 
into  the  great  forest,  which  is  a  devious 
labyrinth  to  those  who  are  not  familiar 
with  its  complicated  trails.  After  some 
search  a  citizen  was  found  who  consented 
to  lead  us  through  the  woods  to  a  point 
where  the  way  was  clearly  marked,  and 
under  his  guidance  we  climbed  up  the 
steep  mountain  side. 

We  went  on  and  on  through  great 
quiet  halls  of  shade,  where  many  deer 
were  roaming,  and  into  which  the  sun- 
light hardly  made  its  way.  The  tower- 
ing trees  rose  to  such  a  height  that  no 
vegetation  could  grow  upon  the  ground, 
145 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

which  was  covered  with  dead  leaves,  and 
showed  every  curve  of  the  deeply  undu- 
lating surface.  Through  various  tracts 
of  beeches  and  oaks  and  pines  and  firs 
we  went,  until  we  at  length  reached  one 
of  the  trails  marked  by  the  Giessen  Out- 
ing Society,  which  has  humanely  painted 
red  crosses  upon  trees  and  rocks  so  as 
to  show  the  path  unmistakably.  Here 
we  took  leave  of  our  guide,  and  presently 
came  to  an  isolated  beech-tree  of  colos- 
sal girth  and  height.  Its  silvery  roots 
were  cushioned  with  velvety  green  moss, 
and  offered  us  a  comfortable  resting- 
place,  where  we  sat  and  devoured  dry 
crusts  of  bread  with  much  satisfaction. 
From  this  point  the  red  crosses  brought 
us  by  many  windings  and  through  the 
most  varied  scenes  safely  across  the  new 
stone  bridge  at  Ruttershausen  and  into 
the  flowery  inn-garden  at  Kirchberg, 
146 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

where,  amid  roses  in  tropical  profusion, 
and  in  full  viefr  of  our  castle  upon  its 
hilltop,  we  feasted  upon  coffee  and  ome- 
lettes with  a  contentment  of  which  Omar 
Khayyam  never  dreamed. 


H7 


Chapter  VI 

Visitors  from  Home 

HIS  inexhaustible  castle  has 
yielded  us  a  brand  new  expe- 
rience, for  we  have  offered  its 
hospitalities  to  three  delight- 
ful visitors  who  were  good 
enough  to  come  to  us  here — 
the  Matron,  the  Daughter,  and  the 
Friend.  As  Portia  is  nearly  related  to 
the  Matron,  she  was  delegated  to  meet 
the  newly-landed  travelers  at  Cologne, 
and  lead  them  safely  to  this  remote  spot. 
Our  advance  agent  left  us  with  mingled 
feelings  of  joy  and  grief;  the  joy  was  self- 
explanatory,  the  grief  betokened  the  ap- 
proaching disintegration  of  our  compact 
148 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

little  party  of  four.  On  our  side  we  felt, 
perhaps,  some  little  touch  of  envy,  for 
the  Matron  travels  "en  prince,"  while 
we  have  to  choose  rather  exclusively  be- 
tween eating  the  cake  and  having  it.  A 
day  or  two  later  we  got  tidings  from  our 
delegate  of  the  gay  doings  in  the  great 
world  outside,  supplemented  by  a  series 
of  adorable  telegrams,  begging  us  to 
come  down  and  be  treated  to  concerts, 
dinners  at  the  Palm  Garden,  divine  serv- 
ice in  the  French  Church,  and  other  like 
luxuries;  but  we  remained  firmly  on  our 
rocky  height.  "\Ye  have  come  to  love 
not  man  the  less,  but  nature  more,  from 
these  our  interviews  in  Staufenberg.  On 
the  appointed  day  I  led  the  baker's  cart 
and  the  ox-wagon  to  Lollar,  to  meet  the 
newcomers,  and  found  them,  to  my  sur- 
prise, sitting  about  in  the  waiting-room, 
for  they  had  taken  one  train  too  early, 
149 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

and  had  nothing  to  do  until  the  convey- 
ance appeared.  It  also  turned  out  that 
our  advance  agent  had  been  desperately 
homesick  to  get  back  upon  this  hilltop 
ever  since  she  had  been  away. 

Our  guests  were  welcomed  with  all  the 
affection  which  exiles  can  feel  for  those 
who  come  directly  from  the  home-land, 
and  who  stand  for  all  that  is  dearest 
there.  They  found  their  rooms  bright 
with  American  flags,  and  decked  with 
the  gay  wild  flowers  and  varied  grains 
which  abound  in  these  parts.  As  soon 
as  wraps  were  disposed  of  and  trunks 
brought  up  and  opened,  there  ensued 
a  distribution  of  rich  and  rare  gifts,  for 
our  good  visitors  had  had  us  in  mind, 
not  only  when  sailing  from  New  York, 
but  in  Rotterdam  and  Cologne  and 
Frankfort.  We  were  showered  with  all 
sorts  of  generous  remembrances,  not  to 
150 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

omit  especial  mention  of  the  gastronomic 
spoils  which  were  to  enrich  our  some- 
what Spartan  table  for  many  days — 
chocolate  and  American  confectionery, 
marmalade,  and  a  magnificent  hamper  of 
fresh  fruit.  Verily  these  true  friends 
knew  well  on  what  side  they  could  ap- 
peal to  our  most  grateful  sensibilities! 
I  had  never  before  experienced  such 
Christmas  sensations  at  this  period  of  the 
calendar  year. 

We  next  piloted  them  through  all  the 
upper  chambers  of  the  castle  and  out 
upon  the  battlements,  after  which  it  was 
time  for  supper  on  the  high  terrace. 
How  friendly  and  sociable  was  the  large 
party  of  seven  around  the  evening  table, 
and  what  torrents  of  talk  from  even- 
side!  The  fact  which  struck  me  most 
forcibly  was  that  our  questions  were  so 
seldom  in  regard  to  those  daily  happen- 


FROM    BROOM   TO    HEATHER 

ings  which  fill  a  large  part  of  the  indis- 
pensable newspaper,  but  had  so  much  to 
do  with  psychological  values.  After  sup- 
per we  marched  to  the  top  of  the  high 
tower  in  the  castle  ruin,  and  gained  a 
view  which  was  highly  remunerative  for 
our  visitors  and,  perhaps,  more  so  for 
ourselves,  who  have  already  come  to 
know  and  love  every  separate  feature  in 
the  wide  panorama  of  our  landscape. 
The  inevitable  twilight  vigil  in  the  west- 
ern window-seat  made  the  suitable  close 
to  a  most  satisfactory  afternoon.  While 
we  had  supposed  that  the  window  room 
was  just  the  right  size  for  four,  we  found 
it  none  too  contracted  for  seven.  It  was 
only  necessary  to  put  a  chair  into  the 
broad  middle  space.  The  good  Matron 
took  her  seat,  her  two  happy  daughters 
grouped  themselves  effectively  on  either 
side,  "praising  God  with  sweetest  looks," 
152 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

while  the  golden  sky  poured  its  peaceful 
glow  over  a  scene  which  left  nothing  to 
desire. 

Our  rooms  had  been  arranged  for  four 
tenants.  With  the  best  will  in  the  world 
it  was  not  practicable  to  adjust  them  to 
a  party  of  seven,  so  I  was  told  off  to 
spend  the  nights  in  the  house  of  one  of 
the  citizens  of  Staufenberg.  I  was  glad 
enough  to  have  the  opportunity  of  see- 
ing something  of  the  inner  appointments 
of  one  of  these  typical,  well-to-do  homes. 
The  house,  barns,  and  hayloft  are 
grouped  on  three  sides  of  a  large  paved 
square,  which  holds  farm  implements, 
empty  wagons,  and  a  mountainous  pile 
of  firewood.  I  was  lighted  with  an  old- 
fashioned  pewter  candlestick  up  the  lit- 
tle staircase  to  the  chief  room,  which 
took  up  the  entire  width  of  the  house. 
All  the  woodwork  was  fresh  and  spot- 
153 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

less;  the  floor  was  made  of  well-painted 
boards,  at  least  a  foot  and  a  half  broad. 
The  ceiling  was  high,  and  the  walls 
newly-papered  in  a  tasteful  design. 

The  room  was  abundantly  furnished, 
and  had  upon  one  wall  a  quaint  cupboard 
filled  with  old  decorated  china  and  glass; 
at  one  side  stood  a  treasure  of  an  old 
brown  carved  spinning-wheel,  still  in 
constant  family  use.  The  little  square- 
paned  windows  opened  inward  on 
hinges;  into  the  one  at  the  head  of  my 
bed  a  thriving  walnut-tree  in  the  garden 
kept  trying  to  thrust  its  branches.  The 
lace  curtains  were  drawn  together  and 
separated  by  that  ingenious  system  of 
weighted  cords  and  rings  which  prevails 
in  Germany,  a  land  where  things  are  usu- 
ally not  ingenious,  but  clumsy.  I  sup- 
pose I  have  spent  hours  in  this  country 
in  pulling  lace  curtains  together  and 
154 


FROM    BROOM   TO   HEATHER 

parting  them,  for  pure  joy  in  the  mech- 
anism. The  bed  was  built  up  to  an  in- 
credible height  by  various  mattresses  and 
feather  cushions,  and  as  I  sank  into  its 
sheets  of  firm  homespun  linen  I  felt  that 
one  must  have  a  far  worse  conscience 
than  myself  not  to  be  able  to  sleep 
soundly  in  such  a  place.  Perhaps  I  gave 
my  conscience  too  high  a  credit,  or,  per- 
chance, it  was  the  faulty  tendency  of  all 
the  mattresses  to  slide  off  in  one  direc- 
tion, which  accounts  for  the  five  rather 
restless  nights  I  spent  in  this  excellent 
home. 

The  next  day  was  Sunday.  In  special 
tribute  to  our  honored  friends,  it  was  in- 
deed most  fair,  most  calm,  most  bright, 
the  very  bridal  of  the  earth  and  sky. 
Our  stiff  little  pew  in  Kirchberg  church 
could  not  contain  the  whole  company, 
which  was  distributed  into  various  seats 
iS7 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

of  unvarying  discomfort.  After  service 
we  wandered  about  the  shady,  fragrant 
churchyard,  saw  the  Old  inscriptions  and 
other  traces  of  pre-Reformation  times, 
and  strolled  slowly  up  the  hill  before  the 
heat  of  the  day  became  burdensome.  On 
the  shady  terrace  we  found  several  ac- 
quaintances from  the  nearest  town,  and 
there  was  a  blessed  big  mail  from  home, 
so  that  the  hours  before  dinner  went  by 
quickly.  In  the  afternoon  the  cause  of 
international  amity  was  again  furthered 
by  visits  of  German  friends. 

After  our  guests  had  gone,  and  the 
evening  meal  had  been  quietly  enjoyed, 
it  was  natural  that  a  quartet  of  younger 
members  of  the  party  should  betake 
themselves  to  the  open  top  of  the  high 
tower  and.  just  as  the  sun  disappeared 
behind  the  hills,  should  sing  the  good  old 
hvmns  consecrated  by  the  precious  asso- 

iS8 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

ciations  of  numberless  Sunday  evenings 
elsewhere — "Now  the  Day  is  Over;" 
"Shining  Shore,"  '"Ancient  of  Days," 
and  the  rest.  My  chief  complaint  about 
our  doings  here  is  that  the  breaking  off 
comes  so  soon  and  is  so  hard,  and  our 
sunset  quartet  was  no  exception. 

On  Monday  morning  we  divided  our 
forces.  It  had  been  decreed  some  days 
before  that  we  Americans  were  in  duty 
bound  to  make  some  social  return  for 
the  many  hospitalities  which  had  been 
lavished  upon  us  in  this  region,  invita- 
tions had  already  been  sent  out  for  an 
American  afternoon  tea  at  the  castle  on 
Tuesday.  The  younger  people  were  dis- 
patched to  the  nearest  city  to  make  the 
last  purchases  in  preparation  for  this  af- 
fair, while  the  elders  remained  at  home 
and  matured  plans.  The  afternoon  was 
made  memorable  by  a  grand  tour  in  a 
159 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

stout  break,  capable  of  holding  all  our 
number  and  driven  out  from  the  city  for 
our  uses. 

YVe  started  at  half-past  three,  and  were 
soon  in  the  awesome  solitude  of  the  great 
pines  and  beeches  in  the  Prussian  forest 
across  the  Lahn.  At  one  point  we  dis- 
mounted and  picnicked,  while  our  driver 
did  his  best  to  keep  the  horses  from  being 
annihilated  by  the  swarms  of  vicious  flies 
which  haunt  the  woods.  Then  we  de- 
scended by  steeply  winding  roads  to  the 
green  valley  back  of  Odenhausen,  and 
came  by  difficult  ascents,  during  which 
the  most  of  us  were  glad  to  walk  and 
thus  show  mercy  upon  our  faithful 
beasts,  over  the  wooded  top  of  another 
large  hill,  and  then  by  hazardous  slopes 
over  a  billowy  red  road  to  the  hamlet  of 
Fronhausen. 

I  have  seen  villainous  roads  in  Amer- 
160 


FROM    BROOM   TO    HEATHER 

ica,  but  for  a  surface  which  could  throw 
each  of  the  four  wheels  of  a  carriage  in 
different  ways  this  can  not  be  outdone. 

At  Fronhausen  is  a  phenomenal  lin- 
den-tree, consisting  of  three  immense 
stems  partially  grown  together,  the 
whole  making  a  colossal  unit.  Rough 
pacing  made  its  circumference  at  the 
ground  measure  nearly  forty  feet. 

As  we  rode  home,  the  level  highway 
leading  down  the  valley  of  the  Lahn  was 
shaded  by  the  western  hills,  and  the 
scene  was  one  of  unmarred  pastoral 
beauty.  Loaded  wains  returning  from 
the  hay  fields  carried  happy  groups  of 
peasant  girls,  some  of  them  in  the  bright- 
est of  gowns  and  gayest  of  head-dresses. 
It  is  little  wonder  that  we  were  seized 
by  the  lyric  mood,  and  that  our  Smith 
College  girls  provoked  us  to  daring  alter- 
nations in  impossible  verse. 

11  161 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

Tuesday,  the  day  set  apart  for  Ger- 
man-American social  relations,  dawned 
clear  and  hot.  From  breakfast  time  on 
there  was  much  stir  in  the  tower  room 
below  stairs;  a  making  of  lettuce  sand- 
wiches, a  pressing  of  organdie  gowns, 
and  what  not.  It  was  my  office  to  walk 
through  the  blazing  heat  of  midday  to 
Lollar,  to  try  to  replace  a  certain  piece 
of  Swiss  cheese  which  had  been  bought 
in  the  provincial  capital,  but  had  proven 
unavailable.  Another  complication  arose 
when  it  was  found  that  the  resources  of 
the  province  were  inadequate  to  produc- 
ing one  bottle  of  olives.  These  unfore- 
seen obstacles  were  but  a  spur  to  Amer- 
ican inventiveness,  which  scored  a  con- 
spicuous triumph  by  robbing  the  candy 
which  had  been  brought  from  Frankfort, 
in  order  to  get  walnuts  for  the  sand- 
wiches. My  four  miles'  walk  through 
162 


THE  RETURN  AT  EVENING 


163 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

the  hot  sun  was  a  failure,  for  there  were 
only  two  sorts  of  cheese  in  stock  to 
choose  from,  the  "handcheese"  of  the 
peasants,  and  Limburger — neither  of 
which  counts,  I  am  told,  in  getting  up 
an  American  afternoon  tea.  I  did  find 
one  fresh  lemon,  though,  and  brought 
that  back  as  a  welcome  peace-offering. 
Then  I  was  deputed  to  go  into  our  woods 
on  the  hillside,  and  rob  their  mossy 
slopes  of  some  long  trailing  vines  of 
glossy  English  ivy,  which  were  used  to 
trim  everything  in  our  large  living  room. 
The  two  red  screens,  adorned  with 
American,  Imperial  German,  and  Hes- 
sian emblems,  not  only  made  an  effective 
decoration,  but  completely  hid  both  beds 
in  the  corner. 

At  three  o'clock  I  descended  the  hill 
again  to  meet  our  guests,  who  were  to 
come  by  train.     There  was  an  elderly 

165 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

merchant  with  his  animated  daughter,  a 
delightful  professional  family,  a  young 
university  scholar  with  his  charming 
wife,  a  lawyer,  a  genial  pastor  with  wife 
and  sister,  and  several  miscellaneous 
friends.  Some  of  the  elder  guests  were 
sent  up  in  the  jaunting-car,  while  the  rest 
of  us  climbed  the  slope. 

The  picture  made  by  all  this  goodly 
group  in  our  large  room,  the  young 
women  attired  in  their  prettiest  thin 
white  summer  dresses,  was  adequately 
festive.  One  of  the  keeper's  large  round 
tables  had  been  set  in  a  corner,  plenti- 
fully decked  with  ivy  and  fresh  flowers, 
and  here  one  of  the  young  American 
ladies  "poured" — how  many  home  mem- 
ories cluster  around  that  sacred  word! 

The  two  matrons,  neither  of  whom 
could  directly  understand  the  other's  lan- 
guage, were  given  places  of  honor  upon 

1 66 


FROM    BROOM    TO   HEATHER 

the  ceremonial  sofa,  and  coffee  and  sand- 
wiches were  passed  around  the  large  cir- 
cle, the  members  of  which,  even  those 
who  controlled  only  one  idiom,  did  their 
best  to  show  their  mutual  goodwill.  A 
large  collection  of  kodak  pictures,  in 
which  we  have  indulged  riotously  upon 
this  expedition,  spoke  in  a  universally 
understood  language,  and  helped  in  get- 
ting things  agreeably  started,  while  the 
interpreters  wandered  from  group  to 
group  with  mediatory  intent.  When  we 
went  in  a  body  to  the  old  ruin,  and 
formed  various  groups  at  the  dictation 
of  our  photographers,  the  spirit  of  hilar- 
ity grew,  and  from  here  we  strolled 
across  the  little  shaded  lawn  to  the  old 
ramparts,  where  some  of  us  sat  in  a  long 
line,  eating  cherries  and  discussing  eth- 
ics, politics,  and  the  higher  criticism,  and 
the  rest  fell  into  congenial  smaller 
167 


FROM    BROOM   TO    HEATHER 

groups.  I  have  noticed,  even  among  the 
Germans,  a  tendency  to  foregather  in 
pairs,  under  certain  conditions. 

At  six  o'clock  we  returned  in  merry 
mood  to  the  large  room,  and  shared  in 
the  crowning  achievement  of  the  festiv- 
ity— a  stately  pyramid  of  ice-cream — 
which  had  cost  the  keeper  a  special  ex- 
pedition to  town  that  day,  and  the  suc- 
cessful serving  of  which  filled  him  with 
legitimate  pride.  As  the  time  for  the 
eight  o'clock  train  to  the  city  drew 
nearer,  I  piloted  the  guests  through  laby- 
rinthine lanes  out  upon  the  main  high- 
road, and  our  international  party  came  to 
an  end  in  a  blaze  of  glory,  to  which  the 
setting  sun  contributed  its  own  appro- 
priate share  of  splendor.  That  same 
night  a  wonderful  party  of  purple-capped 
Marburg  students  was  good  enough  to 
take  supper  on  a  back  terrace,  and  to  add 
1 68 


FROM    BROOM    TO   HEATHER 

to  the  gayety  of  nations  by  singing,  which 
fitted  well  into  the  spirit  of  the  day. 

The  short  remainder  of  our  friends' 
visit  flew  by  all  too  swiftly,  and  we  gave 
up,  once  for  all,  the  hope  of  exhausting 
the  possibilities  of  the  region  for  their 
benefit.  Among  other  things,  we  did 
make  an  expedition  to  a  popular  fair  in 
a  neighboring  town,  which  brought  to- 
gether a  diverse  assemblage  of  peasants 
in  marvelous,  varied  costumes;  where  we 
had  our  fortunes  told,  and  bought  fruit 
and  baskets  and  peasants'  chinaware. 
Then,  again,  by  the  especial  kindness  of 
the  Burgomaster  of  Staufenberg  we  were 
allowed  to  rummage  among  the  ancient 
documents  locked  away  in  the  town  hall, 
and  to  climb  by  well-worn  stairs  and 
rickety  ladders  up  through  the  gloomy 
interior  of  the  city  tower,  reading  the 
terse  inscriptions  on  the  ancient  bells. 
169 


FROM    BROOM    TO   HEATHER 

When  not  sight-seeing  we  were  more 
than  content  to  sit  about  indefinitely 
under  our  lindens,  swapping  sonnets  and 
eating  fruit.  The  parting  came,  but  I  do 
not  enjoy  writing  about  that.  As  the  ex- 
press train  rushed  past,  more  than  half 
a  mile  away,  Patty  and  I  stood  on  the 
top  of  the  corner  turret  and  waved  the 
great  Hessian  standard  belonging  to  the 
castle.  The  heavy  pole  is  twelve  feet 
long,  and  the  flag  large  in  proportion; 
but  we  shook  it  out  with  a  royal  will, 
confident  that  its  gay  red  and  white  must 
make  a  brave  show  against  the  dark 
background  of  castle  and  hill.  Sure 
enough  we  were  straightway  answered 
by  handkerchiefs  and  American  flags 
fluttering  from  the  window  of  the  train, 
but  we  were  in  a  very  mournful  frame  of 
mind  as  the  train  sped  away  to  the  north- 
east. 

170 


A  VETERAN  REUNION 


Chapter  VII 

Hessian  Life  and  Customs 

T  is  doubtless  time  that  I 
should  begin  some  account  of 
the  daily  life  and  habits  of  our 
new  neighbors,  the  Hessian 
people.  A  thoroughly  sym- 
pathetic treatment  of  their  in- 
dustrious ways  and  sterling  character  can 
be  found  in  the  short  novels  of  Herr  Al- 
fred Bock,  of  Giessen.  who  combines  in 
one  person  the  energetic  director  of  a 
large  manufacturing  establishment  and 
an  author  whose  works  of  fiction  are 
highly  praised  by  such  authorities  as 
Paul  Heyse.  Here  is  a  community  in  ab- 
solute connection  with  the  soil,  for  there 
173 


FROM    BROOM    TO   HEATHER 

is  practically  no  industry  in  this  place  of 
some  seven  hundred  and  fifty  souls  ex- 
cept farming,  nor  could  a  more  prosper- 
ous-looking or  fruitful  region  be  im- 
agined. 

Throughout  the  miles  and  miles  of 
country  upon  which  I  look  down  at  this 
moment  from  the  deeply-set  castle  win- 
dow, there  is  not  one  waste  or  neglected 
spot.  The  land  is  successfully  tilled  to 
the  very  edge  of  the  roads  and  forests, 
up  the  high  slopes  of  the  hills,  and  upon 
their  summits,  and  cared  for  with  evident 
pride  and  with  the  most  intelligent  fore- 
sight for  the  future.  The  progressive- 
ness  of  the  farmers  and  their  practice  of 
scientific  methods  in  the  treatment  of  the 
scil,  has  been  a  revelation.  The  Hessian 
Government  provides  free  lectures  on 
scientific  farming,  which  are  well  at- 
tended by  the  landowners,  and  which 
174 


FROM    BROOM   TO   HEATHER 

have  had  such  direct  and  practical  results 
that  the  productiveness  of  the  land  has 
been  vastly  increased  during  recent 
years.  The  most  enlightened  care  is 
given  to  the  rotation  of  crops,  to  fertil- 
ization, and  the  care  of  the  land. 

Formerly  a  good  many  fields  were  ac- 
cessible only  by  the  sufferance  of  a  man's 
neighbors,  and  could  be  planted  only 
with  crops  that  could  be  gathered  with- 
out inconvenience  to  either  party,  but 
the  government  has  put  through  a  new 
survey  and  distribution  of  fields,  whereby 
every  patch  now  has  an  open  field  road 
at  each  end.  Most  of  the  land  is  divided 
into  narrow,  rectangular  strips,  with 
varied  crops,  so  that  the  surface  of  the 
country  looks  like  a  patchwork  quilt. 
By  far  the  greater  part  of  the  fields  is 
given  up  to  "corn;"  that  is  to  say,  rye. 
Next,  I  should  judge,  come  potatoes, 
175 


FROM    BROOM    TO   HEATHER 

which  grow  here  in  the  greatest  perfec- 
tion, unmolested  by  our  ubiquitous  "po- 
tato bug."  Oats,  wheat,  and  barley  are 
also  grown,  clover,  hay,  and  rutabaga. 
In  and  immediately  about  the  village  are 
small  fenced  gardens  and  orchards, 
where  table  vegetables  and  flowers  grow 
in  abundance,  and  the  fields  are  dotted 
here  and  there  with  smaller  orchards  or 
detached  trees. 

The  splendid  highways  are  bordered 
on  either  side  by  a  row  of  apple-trees, 
which  belong  to  the  government  and  are 
leased  each  year  to  individuals.  The  val- 
ley adjoining  the  river,  as  well  as  con- 
siderable slopes  upon  the  hillsides,  is 
given  up  to  meadows  of  hay,  of  which 
there  are  two  crops.  The  immense 
stretches  of  forest  (communal  or  State 
property)  yield  their  wood  lavishly  for 
fuel  and  building  purposes,  and  where 
176 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

the  soil  is  too  stony  for  sheep  pasturage 
there  are  quarries  of  sandstone  and 
basalt. 

From  our  high  windows  it  is  perfectly 
easy  to  follow  the  entire  activity  of  the 
community  in  the  fields,  especially  with 
the  help  of  a  good  fieldglass,  a  gift  of 
Evanston  students  in  years  gone  by. 
The  strictest  care  extends  to  each  pro- 
cess; when  the  farmers  plow  they  draw 
the  furrows  straight  and  even ;  when  they 
plant  and  till  they  put  as  much  con- 
science into  the  work  as  though  it  were 
artistic  landscape  gardening.  The  har- 
vesting operations  began  upon  green 
clover,  which  was  brought  in  in  wagon- 
loads  and  fed  to  the  cattle,  after  having 
been  chopped  up  with  straw.  Toward 
the  end  of  June  came  the  first  crop  of 
hay.  The  whole  community  lay  for  a 
time  in  a  state  of  siege,  for  the  hay  has 
179 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

to  be  cut,  for  the  most  part,  at  sunrise, 
and  by  half-past  two  in  the  morning  the 
mowers  were  at  work  in  the  fields,  the 
men  with  scythe,  the  women  kneeling 
and  cutting  the  grass  with  sickles.  Dur- 
ing this  strenuous  period  all  other  indus- 
tries were  more  or  less  suspended.  The 
hay  is  not  stacked,  but  brought  in 
wagons  to  the  great  lofts,  which  are  an 
indispensable  part  of  each  household. 
Some  of  the  older  homes  are  so  built  that 
the  only  entrance  to  this  "Scheune"  is 
through  the  front  door,  and  the  loads  of 
hay  have  to  be  taken  through  the 
kitchen.  The  newer  lofts  are  larger,  oc- 
cupying one  side  of  the  square  court- 
yard, with  broad  doors,  large  enough  to 
take  in  a  loaded  wagon. 

On  July  1 6th  enterprising  farmers  be- 
gan to  attack  the  great  crop  of  standing 
rye;  within  a  few  days  this  principal  har- 
180 


FROM    BROOM   TO   HEATHER 

vest  will  be  begun  all  along  the  line,  al- 
though it  is  just  now  interrupted  by  rain. 
It  is  a  time  of  all-around  hard  work. 
From  every  courtyard  comes  up  the 
clink  of  hammers  beating  the  scythes 
sharp  upon  anvils.  In  all  the  region 
round  about  I  have  not  seen  one  reaping 
machine,  though  I  hear  that  they  have 
begun  to  be  introduced  upon  the  larger 
estates.  The  narrow  strips  of  field  are 
usually  attacked  co-operatively  by  all  the 
members  of  a  family  above  school  age, 
and  very  often  a  member  considerably 
below  that  age  toddles  about  in  the  stub- 
ble or  is  camped  out  upon  a  sheaf  of  rye 
and  bidden  to  amuse  itself  there.  The 
father  wields  the  broad,  short  scythe, 
which  carries  a  bent  screen  of  wire  net- 
ting, dealing  gentle,  almost  affectionate 
strokes  at  the  stalks,  which  are  made  to 
lie  at  a  uniform  slant  against  the  stand- 

181 


FROM    BROOM    TO   HEATHER 

ing  grain.  The  other  members  of  the 
family  follow,  some  gathering  the  stalks 
into  bundles  with  the  help  of  a  sickle,  and 
binding  them  very  low  down,  so  that  the 
sheaves  remind  one  of  a  small  boy  wear- 
ing a  Russian  belt.  The  sheaves  are 
grouped  by  tens  into  a  conical  stack, 
upon  which  some  prudent  husbandmen 
put  an  eleventh  inverted  capsheaf,  as  a 
protection  against  rain.  The  stacks  are 
built  up  very  neatly  and  disposed  at  reg- 
ular intervals  along  one  side  of  the 
cleanly  mown  strip.  At  noon  the  school- 
girls are  often  to  be  seen  walking  arm  in 
arm  to  the  fields,  taking  dinner  to  the 
laborers  there,  the  whole  picture  having 
such  idyllic  simplicity  and  charm  that  it 
makes  one  feel  that  all  city  life  is  a  de- 
lusion and  a  snare. 

Only  a  few  years  ago  all  the  grain  was 
beaten  out  bv  hand,  and  each  of  the  older 
l82 


BACK  FROM  THE  FIELDS 


•83 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

houses  has  still  its  threshing-floor,  while 
the  heavy  flails,  like  ancestral  armor,  are 
still  hanging  in  the  halls,  a  memorial  of 
more  laborious  times.  Now  the  steam 
thresher  makes  its  rounds,  and  the  flail 
has  gone  the  way  of  the  spinning-wheel, 
which  way  the  scythe  is  surely  destined 
to  follow  in  the  near  future. 

Every  citizen  owns  his  land,  and  the 
distribution  of  property,  though  not  uni- 
form, is  free  from  glaring  inequality.  By 
the  Hessian  law  each  child  is  given  an 
equal  share  of  the  father's  property,  so 
that  the  land  is  split  up  into  a  countless 
number  of  small  holdings.  A  good  re- 
sult of  this  distribution  is  that  every 
owner  is  encouraged  to  thrift,  and  has 
an  ambition  to  add  to  his  possessions, 
piece  by  piece.  As  a  rule  the  young  men 
marry  by  about  the  age  of  twenty-five, 
and   found   their   own    homes.      In    the 

.8s 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

Prussian  region  near  by  the  oldest  son 
inherits  all  the  land  and  holds  the  prop- 
erty together,  while  the  other  children 
are  given  some  compensation  in  money. 
As  a  consequence  the  younger  sons  usu- 
ally remain  on  the  farm  unmarried,  and 
there  is  a  constant  tendency  to  unsettled 
social  conditions. 

Within  the  precincts  of  the  snug  vil- 
lage life  moves  on  in  a  very  orderly  fash- 
ion. The  place  is  not  now  quite  as  com- 
pact as  it  was  in  the  Middle  Ages,  when 
gray  stone  walls,  which  can  still  be  traced 
by  considerable  remains,  stretched  down 
from  the  castle  at  the  hilltop  and  em- 
braced all  the  hamlet  within  their  cir- 
cuit. The  clock  in  the  gateway  tower 
strikes  each  hour,  and  a  bell  is  rung  at 
regular  times  during  the  day;  first  at 
seven  o'clock  in  the  morning,  at  which 
hour  the  schools  begin,  having  their  ses- 

1 86 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

sion  until  eleven,  and  from  one  to  three 
in  the  afternoon.  At  ten  o'clock  the  bell 
sounds  out  over  the  fields,  the  survival 
of  a  mediaeval  usage  whereby  work  was 
suspended  for  prayers  at  that  time  of  day. 
The  present  generation  is  no  longer  so 
devout;  but  the  bell  still  rings  as  of  old. 
On  certain  days  the  bell  is  sounded  at 
about  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening,  and 
the  "town  servant"  then  meets  represen- 
tatives of  different  homes  in  the  place, 
and  assigns  by  lot  the  hours  foi  the  free 
use  of  the  public  bakehouse.  This  is  a 
stone  structure,  well  supplied  with  open- 
ings to  let  out  smoke,  having  racks  and 
tables  for  loaves  and  pans,  and  contain- 
ing at  one  end  the  huge  cavernous  stone 
oven,  capable  of  doing  at  one  time  all  of 
a  family's  baking  for  three  weeks.  Each 
family  brings  its  fresh  loaves  and  bundles 
of    fagots.      These    latter    are    burned 

187 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

briskly  in  the  stone  oven  itself,  until  the 
proper  heat  has  been  gained,  when  the 
glowing  coals  are  all  scraped  out  of  the 
oven,  and  the  whole  batch  of  bread  is  put 
in  upon  the  ashy  floor  and  duly  baked. 
About  fourteen  families  can  use  the  oven 
each  day. 

At  sunset  on  Saturday  the  entire  peal 
of  four  mellow  bells  sounds  abroad  to 
welcome  the  incoming  day  of  rest,  which 
is  greeted  in  the  same  way  on  Sunday 
morning.  A  bell  also  rings  in  prepara- 
tion for  the  Church  service  at  half-past 
nine. 

There  are  two  schoolhouses,  solidly 
and  expensively  built  and  admirably 
maintained.  Each  is  in  charge  of  a 
teacher  who  lives  with  his  family  in  the 
building,  and  is  a  personage  of  dignity 
and  rank.  Every  child  must  attend 
school  from  the  age  of  six  to  fourteen, 

188 


FROM    BROOM    TO   HEATHER 

and  on  reaching  the  latter  age  the  youth 
of  both  sexes  is  taken,  by  a  rather  me- 
chanical process,  into  the  State  Church. 
For  three  years  more,  from  fourteen  to 
seventeen,  the  boys  are  required  to  at- 
tend night  school  about  three  times  a 
week  during  the  winter  months.  After 
this  they  are  free  from  school  duties,  and 
no  further  instruction  is  provided  in  the 
place. 

I  shall  not  describe  the  system  of  edu- 
cation, but  will  mention  just  one  enviable 
feature:  the  pupil  who  recites  is  made 
to  give  his  answers  or  demonstrations 
boldly  and  with  full  exercise  of  lung 
power,  so  that  he  almost  shouts,  a  first- 
rate  thing  for  the  expression  of  person- 
ality, a  matter  which  the  American  pub- 
lic school  sometimes  slights.  If  our 
young  people  were  taught  earlier  to  use 
that  matchless  organ  of  expression,  the 
191 


FROM    BROOM    TO   HEATHER 

human  voice,  we  should  suffer  less  from 
that  deprecatory,  take-the-back-seat  air 
of  diffidence  in  all  matters  belonging  to 
intellectual  and  scholarly  values. 

The  public  manners  of  the  people  are 
carefully,  almost  oppressively  polite. 
The  men  always  take  off  their  hats  in 
meeting  strangers,  and  every  child  in  the 
village  has  been  taught  the  duty  of  salut- 
ing the  passing  visitor  with  "Guten 
Tag!"  so  that  our  progress  through  the 
streets  is  vocal  with  their  high-pitched 
greetings. 

As  has  been  intimated,  the  better 
homes  are  rather  imposing  establish- 
ments, grouped  on  three  sides  of  a  large 
paved  square,  which  holds  great  piles  of 
beechwood  (brought  from  the  forest  in 
noble  pieces  and  easily  split  while  fresh) 
and  bundles  of  fagots.  The  houses  stand 
on  solid  stone  foundations,  and  have 
192 


FROM    BROOM    TO   HEATHER 

staircases  of  stone,  often  built  massively 
with  vaulted  masonry.  The  older  houses 
are  framed  together  of  heavy  oak  beams, 
bearing  carved  inscriptions;  some  of  the 
less  solid  buildings  show  ancient  wattled 
work  of  woven  wooden  splints  filled  in 
with  clay.  The  newest  houses  are  of  a 
white  artificial  stone,  made  of  gravel  held 
together  by  lime  and  molded  into  large 
bricks.  Lanterns  project  at  the  corners. 
Little  shelves,  supported  on  iron  brack- 
ets in  front  of  the  windows,  hold  flower- 
ing plants.  Before  many  of  the  houses 
roses  clamber  up  from  a  single  tall  stem 
and  blossom  freely,  or  grapevines  cover 
a  large  part  of  the  front.  The  stone  base- 
ment is  usually  given  up  to  stalls  for 
cattle,  particularly  for  the  cows,  which 
are  practically  the  only  draft  animals  in 
the  place,  and  equally  useful  for  the  milk 
and  butter  which  they  supply.  They  are 
195 


FROM    BROOM   TO    HEATHER 

tended  with  a  care  which  reminds  one 
of  the  precepts  of  the  Hindu  religion. 
The  numerous  chickens  in  every  house- 
hold occupy  an  upper  story  in  the  stone 
basement,  to  which  they  gravely  mount 
by  an  outside  ladder  of  perhaps  twenty 
rounds. 

The  barn  has  for  its  chief  feature  a 
great  door  of  hardwood,  unpainted,  dark 
with  age,  curiously  and  artistically  built 
of  very  heavy  timbers.  In  this  door  is  a 
small  postern,  also  built  with  care  and 
design.  Above  the  whole  is  a  projecting 
porch  to  shelter  ladders,  poles,  and  hay- 
racks. Grouped  upon  the  front  of  the 
building  are  the  rakes,  scythes,  chains, 
and  harnesses  of  the  place,  and  all  about 
stand  tubs,  wagons,  plows,  and  the  like. 
Live  stock  of  all  sorts  except  horses 
abounds,  and  seems  at  times  a  little  too 
much  in  evidence.  Goats  and  pigs  and 
196 


FROM    BROOM    TO   HEATHER 

geese  make  a  part  of  every  well-ordered 
household,  and  their  care  claims  no  little 
attention.  At  five  o'clock  in  the  after- 
noon the  communal  swineherd  winds  his 
trumpet  through  the  lanes  and  from  stall 
and  courtyard,  like  Hussars  at  the  sound 
of  the  assembly  call,  come  trooping  out 
the  pigs  by  scores,  old  and  young,  blond 
and  mottled.  The  driver,  who  wears  a 
short  blue  blouse  and  is  one  of  the  most 
marked  and  versatile  characters  in  the 
place,  is  well  aware  of  his  importance. 
He  has  a  military  air,  and  when  not  blow- 
ing his  horn  or  cracking  his  long  whip 
is  usually  engaged  in  "jollying"  the  peo- 
ple along  the  way.  He  is  preceded  by 
his  infant  son,  who  cracks  his  own  little 
whip  with  such  strength  as  he  can  sum- 
mon. The  pigs  are  driven  out  to  an  old 
quarry  for  a  couple  of  hours'  exercise  and 
fresh  air,  and  then  returned  to  the  town 
199 


FROM    BROOM    TO   HEATHER 

to  the  stirring  notes  of  the  horn.  The 
sheep  remain  afield  all  summer,  in  charge 
of  a  professional  shepherd,  who,  with  the 
help  of  two  rather  wild  black  dogs,  keeps 
the  flock  within  bounds  and  plants  hur- 
dles around  it  for  the  night,  when  the 
shepherd  sleeps  near  by  in  his  long  box 
on  wheels.  The  geese  are  parceled  out 
among  the  girls,  who  keep  them  in  the 
fields  during  the  day. 

Very  few  trades  are  followed,  and  their 
representatives  are  also  busily  engaged 
in  farming.  The  multifarious  night 
watchman,  swineherd,  and  bellringer  has 
a  sign  upon  the  front  of  his  house:  "Hair- 
cutting  and  Shaving."  Two  blacksmiths, 
a  baker,  a  tailor,  a  shoemaker,  and  some 
carpenters  are  to  be  found,  but  most  me- 
chanical help  is  got  from  without.  There 
is  no  regular  post-office,  as  the  mail  is 
sent  up  twice  a  day  from  Lollar,  and  de- 
200 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

livered  in  the  homes.  There  are  no 
shops,  properly  so-called.  A  few  houses 
boast  a  sort  of  store  in  one  of  the  front 
rooms,  tended  by  the  housewife  when 
she  is  not  afield,  where  a  few  groceries 
and  simple  supplies  can  be  bought.  One 
such  home  bears  an  inscription,  "Bottled 
Beer,  Tobacco,  and  Writing  Materials." 
A  general  co-operative  store  is  con- 
ducted with  an  inn,  but  goods  can  be  sold 
only  to  members  of  the  association. 

Perhaps  the  most  interesting  feature 
of  life  here  is  its  socialistic  organization. 
In  addition  to  enterprises  which  are  pub- 
lic with  us — waterworks,  roads,  schools 
— the  local  authorities  direct  others,  such 
as  the  bakehouse,  the  quarry,  the  breed- 
ing of  live  stock,  and  the  care  of  cattle. 
An  immense  tract  of  valuable  forest  be- 
longs to  the  community,  and  almost  en- 
tirely eliminates  the  burden  of  direct  tax- 
203 


FROM    BROOM    TO   HEATHER 

ation  by  the  large  revenue  which  it  fur- 
nishes. 

I  must  not  fail  to  mention  the  ceme- 
tery, lying  on  a  slope  just  outside  the 
village,  in  the  midst  of  orchards  and  gar- 
dens. A  low,  broad-topped  stone  wall 
surrounds  it,  almost  hidden  by  clamber- 
ing brambles  and  thickets  of  wild  roses. 
Near  the  center  towers  up  a  symmetrical 
linden-tree,  which  seems  to  take  the 
whole  place  under  its  protection.  On 
the  graves  grow  old-fashioned  garden 
flowers  in  fullest  perfection:  phlox,  snap- 
dragon, pinks,  columbine,  and  gilly- 
flower. The  walks  are  bordered  with 
glossy  hedges  of  slow-growing  box. 
The  cemetery  is  always  a  quiet,  undis- 
turbed retreat  in  which  to  sit  and  muse 
over  endless  unwritten  "elegies." 


204 


Chapter  VIII 

At  the  Water  Cure 

UR  harmonious  party  had  be- 
come very  much  scattered. 
One  of  the  number  had  al- 
ready been  lured  away  to 
make  the  Grand  Tour  of  Italy 
and  other  foreign  parts  with 
indulgent  relatives;  another  felt  con- 
strained to  settle  down  in  a  small  aca- 
demic center  and  improve  her  mind  by 
the  systematic  study  of  the  German  lan- 
guage, while,  as  a  last  blow,  a  famous 
specialist  had  sent  a  third  member  of  our 
group  to  Salzschlirf,  a  remote  watering- 
place  near  Fulda.  This  recently  devel- 
oped resort  is  one  whose  star  is  just  now 
205 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

very  much  in  the  ascendant,  although  as 
lately  as  1888,  the  time  when  it  was  vis- 
ited and  described  by  the  celebrated 
court  preacher,  Emil  Frommel  of  Ber- 
lin, it  was  spoken  of  by  him  as  a  spot 
completely  hidden  from  human  ken. 
Patty  and  myself  were  still  occupying 
the  castle  as  its  sole  residents,  and  the 
time  was  by  no  means  heavy  upon  our 
hands;  but  we  suddenly  conceived  the 
idea  of  searching  out  Salzschlirf.  Earlier 
experiences  at  larger  and  more  showy 
watering-places,  notably  at  Carlsbad,  had 
given  us  a  robust  prejudice  against  the 
whole  institution,  and  we  felt  that  it  was 
due  to  our  estimate  of  the  German  peo- 
ple, who  set  such  store  upon  the  system, 
and  claim  to  be  so  miraculously  made 
over  by  it,  that  we  should  not  go  back  to 
America  without  getting  acquainted  with 
one  typical  specimen. 
206 


FROM    BROOM   TO   HEATHER 

Like  most  of  the  best  plans  in  Eu- 
ropean travel,  it  was  made  on  the  spur  of 
the  moment,  and  before  we  could  quite 
realize  the  fact  we  were  seated  in  an  ex- 
press train  which  was  plunging  into  pine 
forests  and  flying  at  a  mad  rate  up  the 
Vale  of  Buseck.  At  half-past  four  in  the 
afternoon  we  get  off  at  the  station  of 
Salzschlirf,  lying  in  Prussian  territory, 
among  the  volcanic  masses  of  the  Vo- 
gelsgebirge,  the  most  considerable  ba- 
saltic eruption  in  Germany.  A  youth 
from  the  hotel  where  our  companion  was 
staying  stood  waiting  for  us;  he  brought 
grateful  messages  from  the  patient,  who 
had  been  told  by  telegraph  that  we  were 
coming,  and  guided  us  to  the  place.  A 
long  cinder  path  wound  down  from  the 
station  to  the  floor  of  the  valley,  where 
the  old  characteristic  Catholic  hill  vil- 
lage stands  side  by  side  with  the  mod- 
207 


FROM    BROOM   TO   HEATHER 

ern  group  of  villas  and  hotels  which  has 
grown  up  about  the  springs.  The  old 
village  is  conspicuous  for  its  Roman 
church  and  its  Alpine-looking  cluster  of 
houses.  It  has  a  number  of  communis- 
tic possessions,  among  them  a  great  for- 
est, much  arable  land,  and  an  inn. 

This  secluded  valley  was  made  by 
Providence  as  a  sheltered,  undisturbed 
retreat  for  those  who  need  quiet  and 
restoration.  It  lies  at  the  very  bottom 
of  a  towering  amphitheater  of  fir-cov- 
ered mountains,  shut  off  from  the  rough 
blasts  that  come  out  of  the  deep  gorges 
of  the  neighboring  ranges,  so  that  the 
climate  is  much  milder  than  that  of  the 
surrounding  country.  At  the  same  time 
the  valley  is  open  to  a  constant  circula- 
tion of  light  breezes  by  the  passage  of 
three  streams,  which  make  their  way 
among  mountains.  A  cheerful  little 
208 


FROM    BROOM    TO   HEATHER 

river,  the  Altfell,  runs  through  the  main 
part  of  the  valley,  joins  the  Lauterbach 
coming  in  from  the  west,  and  these  unite 
to  form  the  much  broader  Schlitz,  the 
stream  which  made  this  region  famous, 
and  which  flows  out  toward  the  north- 
east. 

A  short  distance  from  the  station  we 
entered  the  maze  of  winding  paths  which 
leads  through  the  fascinating  park  sur- 
rounding the  springs,  and  which  holds 
the  chief  buildings  devoted  to  guests. 
Finally  we  crossed  the  Altfell  on  a  curved 
wooden  bridge  bordered  by  long  boxes 
of  flaming  nasturtiums  and  sweet-peas, 
and  made  our  way  by  a  narrow  brown 
path  and  upon  rustic  steps  up  a  steep 
Alpine  meadow,  covered  with  bluebells 
and  clover,  to  our  hotel,  which  from  its 
platform  on  the  edge  of  the  dark  fir 
woods  commands  the  whole  panorama 
14  209 


FROM    BROOM    TO   HEATHER 

of  the  secluded  valley  and  its  encircling 
rampart  of  hills.  It  seemed  very  much 
like  the  earlier  days  at  the  castle  when 
we  met  our  exile,  looking  wonderfully 
better  for  her  treatment  and  overjoyed  at 
our  unexpected  visit.  The  hotel  was 
very  liberally  furnished  and  well  man- 
aged, and  we  found  it  most  satisfactory. 

Salzschlirf  made  easy  captives  of  us 
from  the  first,  and  we  hated  to  be  driven 
away  from  it,  even  to  go  back  to  our 
castle.  Its  sweet,  caressing  air,  over- 
flowing everything  in  mild  floods  and  at 
the  same  time  tonic  and  pungent  with 
the  fragrance  of  the  pine  forests,  is  balm 
for  every  nerve,  and  makes  those  sleep 
who  never  slept  before. 

The  clear  running  streams  give  life 
and  movement,  and  every  desire  of  the 
jaded  visitor  seems  to  have  been  antici- 
pated in  such  a  way  as  to  offer  the  maxi- 
2IO 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

mum  amount  of  genuine  comfort  with 
the  minimum  amount  of  fuss.  We  were 
not  especially  ambitious  visitors  as  re- 
gards pursuing  a  systematic  cure — per- 
haps chiefly  because  we  had  nothing  that 
needed  curing — but  the  spirit  of  the 
place,  the  inducements  which  it  offers 
to  self-surrender,  are  irresistible  and  an 
unspeakably  blessed  boon. 

The  first  thing  you  do  is  to  pay  the 
"bath  tax"  of  fifteen  marks,  which  en- 
titles you  to  the  use  of  the  springs,  the 
grounds,  and  the  other  institutions;  then 
you  call  upon  Sanitary  Counselor  Dr. 
Gemmel,  chief  physician  of  the  baths,  or 
some  other  practitioner.  You  do  well 
to  bring  with  you  a  technical  description 
of  your  "case,"  written  by  your  home 
doctor.  Very  careful  directions  as  to 
diet  and  exercise  are  given  you,  and  the 
number  and  sort  of  baths  to  be  taken  are 
213 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

exactly  noted.  The  physician  probably 
orders  you  to  drink  about  four  glasses  of 
the  Boniface  spring  daily.  The  springs 
flow  from  six  to  nine  in  the  morning, 
from  eleven  to  twelve  at  noon,  and  from 
five  to  seven  in  the  evening;  the  morn- 
ing potion  must  be  taken  before  eating, 
say  at  seven  o'clock.  Fifteen  minutes 
must  be  allowed  for  each  glass,  which 
one  sips  while  strolling  up  and  down 
among  the  groves  and  flower-beds. 
After  two  glasses,  another  half-hour's 
walk,  and  then  the  belated  breakfast. 
During  the  morning  a  bath  of  mineral 
water  in  one  of  the  bathhouses,  then  the 
patient  goes  to  bed,  but  not  to  sleep, 
for  about  an  hour.  At  one  o'clock,  din- 
ner; from  five  to  seven,  promenade,  with 
bed  at  about  nine. 

The  chief  of  the  six  springs,  the  Boni- 
face, flows  in  a  little  temple  at  the  end 
214 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

of  the  broad  gravel  walk.  Every  guest 
searches  out  his  own  numbered  glass 
from  the  hundreds  in  the  racks,  and  it 
is  filled  by  one  of  the  young  women  who 
minister  at  the  fountain.  The  water  con- 
tains much  salt,  and  leaves  a  slightly  bit- 
ter flavor  in  the  mouth,  but  is  rather  pal- 
atable than  otherwise,  having  no  odor 
and  being  saturated  with  carbonic  acid 
gas. 

At  the  early  hour  of  half-past  six  the 
excellent  orchestra  began  to  play  in  the 
promenade,  opening  the  day  with  the 
sustained,  organ-like  harmonies  of  an 
ancient  Lutheran  choral,  which  never 
sounds  more  stately  or  convincing  than 
in  the  freshness  of  the  pure  morning  air. 
During  the  morning  walk  the  orchestra 
continues  to  play,  and  performs  also  at 
four  and  at  eight.  My  own  theory  is  that 
this  soothing  and  exhilarating  feature 
215 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

of  daily  life  has  about  as  much  to  do  with 
the  benefit  of  the  cure  as  the  percentage 
of  lithium  in  the  water  or  the  number  of 
peat  baths  taken.  I  could  not  help  envy* 
ing  the  musicians  the  satisfaction  of 
knowing  that  every  performance  means 
better  health  for  one's  afflicted  fellow- 
men.  Perhaps  our  municipalities  will 
some  day  provide  an  early  promenade 
upon  shady  paths  to  the  sound  of  good 
music  for  all  their  inhabitants,  whether 
afflicted  with  rheumatism  or  not.  Think 
how  it  might  sweeten  the  subsequent 
transactions  of  the  business  office  or  the 
Board  of  Trade! 

The  hundreds  of  guests  stroll  up  and 
down  with  more  or  less  gouty  tread,  for 
all  degrees  of  lameness  are  represented; 
yet  the  atmosphere  is,  on  the  whole,  a 
cheerful  one.  and  the  general  tone  one  of 
good-will  and  entire  unconstraint.  Even 
2l6 


FROM    BROOM    TO   HEATHER 

the  gorgeously  militant  gendarme  counts 
it  no  robbery  to  be  seen  quietly  smoking 
a  little  on  the  side.  Those  who  prefer 
to  do  so,  circulate  about  in  the  long- 
paved  corridor,  under  the  roof  of  which 
are  neat  booths  for  the  sale  of  glassware, 
crystals,  linen,  books,  and  the  inevitable 
pictured  postcards.  Peasants  from  the 
neighboring  villages  are  among  the  num- 
ber, as  well  as  nobles;  the  atmosphere  is 
one  of  quiet  refinement,  though  there  is 
the  greatest  variety  in  the  types  which 
parade  during  the  morning  and  evening 
hours  —  dowagers,  professional  men, 
merchants,  women  of  fashion,  and  slen- 
der, highbred  officers  who  have  the  con- 
fident air  of  those  unto  whom  belong  the 
earth  and  the  fullness  thereof. 

The  perfectly-kept  lawns  and  parterres 
lead  into  a  winding  labyrinth  of  paths, 
which  go  ud  the  side  of  the  mountain 
217 


FROM    BROOM   TO   HEATHER 

into  the  deep  woods  upon  its  top. 
Everywhere  are  secluded  benches  ready 
for  occupancy,  or  shady  arbors  and 
nooks  commanding  wide  views.  There 
is  a  constant  incitement  and  allurement 
to  longer  and  more  ambitious  walks,  and 
from  each  prospect  gained  there  is  some 
new  path  for  conquest,  marked  out  by 
easily-followed  symbols  painted  upon 
trees  and  rocks. 

Every  influence  is  exerted  to  have  the 
day  end  early,  and  after  ten  o'clock  noth- 
ing is  doing;  the  cool  hours  from  eight 
to  ten  are  among  the  most  festive  of  the 
day.  The  parks  along  the  river  are 
brightly  lighted  by  electricity;  upon  the 
broad  veranda  of  the  Kurhaus  or  at 
tables  upon  the  ample  terrace  in  front 
of  it  or  in  a  sheltered  pavilion  near  by 
sit  smart  groups  of  guests,  and  the  or- 
chestra renders  its  most  ambitious  selec- 

218 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

tions  from  Wagner  and  Strauss.  As  an 
American,  I  felt  great  satisfaction  in 
hearing  the  lively  strains  of  Sousa's 
"Washington  Post"  among  these  num- 
bers, though  it  was  pretty  well  disguised 
under  its  printed  title,  "La  Posta  di 
Washington."  Very  often  evening  con- 
certs or  theatrical  performances  of  a 
mildly  exciting  type  are  given  for  the 
entertainment  of  guests. 

During  the  remainder  of  our  visit 
there  were  plenty  of  diversions  to  fill  up 
the  short  hours — excursions  to  the 
quaint  town  of  Schlitz;  to  Fulda,  with 
its  venerable  history  and  monuments;  to 
Lauterbach  and  the  fine  old  castle  of 
Eisenbach.  There  were  tennis  and  bowl- 
ing and  croquet,  boating  on  the  Lauter, 
and  (if  our  ambition  had  reached  so  far) 
opportunities  for  fishing  and  hunting. 

The    bathing    arrangements    claim    a 
219 


FROM    BROOM   TO    HEATHER 

large  share  of  time  and  interest.  With 
the  rapidly  increasing  attendance  every 
room  is  engaged  throughout  the  bath- 
ing hours;  unless  one  is  punctual  he  loses 
his  chance  for  the  day.  After  getting  a 
stamped  card  one  has  to  wait  in  a  read- 
ing-room until  his  number  is  called. 
Three-quarters  of  an  hour  is  allowed  as 
total  time  for  the  use  of  a  room,  which 
includes  all  the  preparations  for  the  bath 
and  getting  dressed  afterward.  The 
bathing  houses  and  pumping  works  are 
built  according  to  a  sort  of  factory  style, 
and  I  have  observed  that  the  Germans 
are  not  much  more  aesthetic  than  our- 
selves in  the  forms  of  commercial  archi- 
tecture. The  baths  are  taken  in  large 
enameled  tubs,  each  of  which  has  a  false 
bottom  of  perforated  wood,  under  which 
is  situated  a  steam  coil.  The  direct  heat- 
ing of  the  water  in  a  boiler  would  have 
220 


FROM    BROOM    TO   HEATHER 

the  effect  of  driving  out  the  carbonic 
acid  gas,  which  has  so  agreeable  effect 
upon  the  system  in  bathing.  It  was  in 
Salzschlirf  that  the  method  of  heating 
mineral  water  baths  by  means  of  contact 
with  steam-pipes  was  discovered  as  early 
as  1840,  and  it  is  now  almost  universally 
used  at  such  places.  The  body  of  the 
bather  becomes  immediately  covered 
with  countless  silvery  bubbles,  which 
give  a  very  agreeable  and  stimulating 
sensation.  The  stirring  and  tonic  effect 
which  these  baths  have  upon  the  circu- 
lation makes  them  unadvisable  for  per- 
sons who  suffer  from  heart  troubles — 
speaking  rather  from  the  physiological 
than  from  the  psychological  standpoint. 
A  new  spring  has  just  been  opened  by 
boring  at  a  point  indicated  by  Professor 
Lepsius.  This  spring  yields  a  water  most 
desirable  for  bathing,  holding  five  per 
221 


FROM    BROOM   TO   HEATHER 

cent  of  salt  and  three  times  its  own  vol- 
ume of  carbonic  acid.  It  has  lately  been 
connected  with  the  older  bathhouse, 
while  the  newer  one  is  supplied  from  the 
Boniface  spring.  This  latter  beneficent 
well  was  bored  in  1746,  and  has,  on  ac- 
count of  the  exceptionally  large  amount 
of  lithium  which  it  contains,  a  unique 
reputation  for  its  action  in  cases  of  gout 
and  rheumatism.  The  spring  issues  a 
few  feet  below  the  surface  of  the  earth, 
and  is  pumped  into  the  fountains  and 
baths  and  also  to  filling  machines,  from 
which  hundreds  of  thousands  of  bottles 
are  sent  away  every  year.  The  Boniface 
spring  yields  more  than  a  million  quarts 
daily,  so  that  there  is  no  danger  of  the 
supply  running  short.  When  thunder- 
storms are  coming  on  it  acts  as  a  sort 
of  natural  barometer,  foaming  up  vigor- 
ously two  feet  above  its  average  level, 
222 


FROM    BROOM   TO   HEATHER 

and  casting  out  yellow  flakes  from  sub- 
terranean depths. 

The  springs  were  originally  used  only 
for  obtaining  salt,  and  in  1816,  after  the 
domain  of  Fulda  had  been  annexed  to 
the  electorate  of  Hessia,  this  industry 
was  abandoned.  Then,  to  quote  the 
choice  language  of  a  little  guide  to  Salz- 
schlirf,  written  by  a  physician  in  Fulda, 
"this  saline,  carbonated  Brier-rose  slum- 
bered for  the  space  of  twenty  years."  In 
1839  a  gifted  physician,  Dr.  Edward 
Martiny,  began  his  lifework  of  making 
the  healing  springs  more  accessible  and 
useful.  Since  then  there  has  been  a  con- 
stant growth  of  their  popularity. 

I  can  almost  always  detect  American 
influence  somewhere  in  any  German  en- 
terprise which  shows  exceptional  energy 
and  effectiveness,  and  I  was  not  at  all 
surprised  to  learn  that  the  efficient  man- 
223 


FROM    BROOM   TO   HEATHER 

ager,  Herr  Berlit,  had  resided  for  some 
time  in  the  United  States,  and  was  one 
of  the  earliest  workers  upon  the  Omaha 
Bee.  I  had  an  especial  pride  in  letting 
him  know  that  I  came  from  a  city  which 
numbers  a  ''Bathhouse"  statesman 
among  its  chief  counselors.  Not  many 
Americans  are  residing  at  the  baths, 
though  I  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting 
General  Swan  of  the  United  States  army, 
who  is  recuperating  after  hard  service  in 
the  Philippine  Islands.  A  small  group 
of  Americans  was  here  during  the  earlier 
part  of  July,  and  celebrated  Independ- 
ence-day by  speeches  and  other  diver- 
sions, while  the  Stars  and  Stripes  flut- 
tered proudly  from  the  tall  flag-pole 
which  crowns  the  height  of  Marienlust, 
on  the  slopes  of  the  Soderberg  forest. 


224 


Chapter  IX 


The  Doomed  Villages 


I       jr. 


E  A  L  L  Y  now,"  Ernestine 
broke  in,  "we  ought  to  sum- 
mon our  energy  and  hunt  up 
those  Doomed  Villages." 

I  ought  to  remark  that 
Ernestine  is  a  breezy  type  of 
the  young  American,  who  has  become  a 
permanent  and  welcome  addition  to  our 
group. 

"What  are  the  Doomed  Villages,  any- 
way, that  we  should  leave  all  this  for 
them?"  asked  Patty,  looking  away  re- 
luctantly from  the  groups  of  Friedel- 
hausen  peasants  mowing  rye  in  the  fields 
along  the  river. 

x5  225 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

"The  Doomed  Villages,"  said  Ernest- 
ine, not  without  pathos,  "are  two  pros- 
perous and  idyllic  communities  lying  on 
the  high  plateau  above  the  Lumda;  their 
names  are  Wermertshausen  and  Rtid- 
dingshausen,  and  they  are  going  to  be 
demolished  in  order  to  make  practice 
room  for  the  modern  guns  of  the  German 
army.  It 's  a  burning  shame  to  treat  the 
poor  peasants  so,  and  if  we  had  the  least 
spark  of  ambition  we  would  go  out  and 
investigate  the  matter!" 

"I  always  disliked  that  word  'investi- 
gate,' "  I  intervened,  "especially  on  a 
pleasure  trip.  It  sounds  far  too  strenu- 
ous and  conscious.  Moreover,  my  dear," 
I  added,  with  pardonable  severity,  "it  is 
a  deep  pain  to  me  that  any  member  of 
my  party  should  be  taken  in  by  such 
fatuous  tales.  Anything  can  be  endured 
in  a  traveling  companion  except  being 
226 


FROM    BROOM   TO   HEATHER 

'easy'  when  it  comes  to  fairy  stories  and 
rumors  invented  in  the  village  inn  for 
the  benefit  of  the  credulous  American." 

''There  's  nothing  credulous  about  it!" 
retorted  Ernestine,  warmly.  "I  heard  it 
from  some  of  the  most  sensible  Staufen- 
berg  people.  Yesterday  at  the  dinner 
party  that  real  fierce  German  major  told 
me  that  the  national  government  had 
fully  decided  that  the  places  were  to  be 
wiped  off  the  face  of  the  earth." 

"Well,"  said  I,  "it 's  doubtful  whether 
there  's  anything  to  get  tragic  about;  in 
all  probability  they  are  two  forlorn  pig 
villages  compounded  of  mud  and  straw, 
to  which  no  better  fate  could  come  than 
that  of  being  pulverized  in  order  to  make 
room  for  something  better.  Of  course 
the  German  Government  will  give  the 
people  full  compensation  for  the  destruc- 
tion of  their  property." 
227 


FROM    BROOM   TO    HEATHER 

"But  think  of  the  outrage,"  pleaded 
Ernestine;  "of  the  sacred  associations  of 
hearth  and  altar;  of  the  ancient  village 
church  where  generation  after  gener- 
ation has  worshiped  and  been  baptized 
and  married;  of  the  quiet  churchyard, 
where  the  rude  forefathers  of  the  hamlet 
sleep." 

"I  think  it 's  hateful,"  said  Patty. 
"The  government  ought  to  be  ashamed 
to  be  such  an  abominable  tyrant  and  to 
go  trampling  on  the  dearest  rights  of  the 
humble  poor." 

"Hold,  children!"  I  cried;  "anything 
can  be  endured  except  overstrained  sen- 
timentality. Better  far  that  we  should 
hunt  up  these  places  and  see  what  we  can 
learn.  Now  that  I  think  of  it,  there  's 
going  to  be  a  country  fair  and  cattle  mar- 
ket Wednesday  at  Griinberg;  we  will 
combine  things  and  make  a  day  of  it." 
228 


THE  MARKET-PLACE,  GRUNBERG 


FROM    BROOM    TO   HEATHER 

And  so  on  the  next  Wednesday  we 
took  the  newly-opened  "secondary  road" 
up  the  valley  of  the  Lumda  A  German 
"secondary  road"  is  the  most  deliberate 
thing  on  the  planet.  The  distance  trav- 
eled was  fifteen  miles;  the  time  required 
one  hour  and  a  half.  It  was  accordingly 
after  eleven  when  we  reached  the  rustic 
metropolis,  the  crooked  narrow  paved 
streets  of  which  were  crowded  with  farm- 
ers' wagons,  mostly  loaded  with  hamp- 
ers holding  young  pigs,  clean  and  well- 
kept,  but  squealing  desperately.  In  the 
midst  of  this  din  and  confusion  other 
farmers  were  trying  to  drive  cows  and 
calves  through  the  throng;  the  combi- 
nation made  progress  very  difficult,  but 
we  pressed  on  over  a  stone  bridge  and 
past  an  old  monastery  until  we  came  to 
the  market-place.    It  was  entirely  empty. 

No  protests  could  help,  and  as  Patty 
231 


FROM    BROOM   TO   HEATHER 

drew  the  line  at  "walking  miles  to  see 
these  heavy  farmers  quarrel  about  the 
price  of  pigs,"  we  contented  ourselves 
with  roaming  about  the  curious  town 
and  visiting  the  "Thieves'  Tower,"  an 
irregularly  built  structure,  which  stood 
at  what  had  evidently  once  been  an  angle 
of  the  city  wall.  We  got  a  tolerable  din- 
ner at  the  inn,  and  took  the  train  back 
to  Londorf,  lying  at  about  the  middle 
point  in  the  course  of  the  Lumda,  from 
which  we  had  determined  to  make  our 
attempt  to  climb  to  Wermertshausen  and 
Ruddingshausen. 

At  about  half-past  one  we  stepped  off 
at  the  somewhat  deserted  railway  plat- 
form, but,  as  luck  would  have  it,  a  rural 
postman  was  coming  by.  He  was  not 
acquainted  with  the  way  to  Wermerts- 
hausen himself;  but  a  small  boy,  who  was 
seen  coming  from  a  distance,  was  from 
232 


FROM    BROOM    TO   HEATHER 

that  place,  and  would  surely  be  willing 
to  guide  us.  We  all  waited  for  the  boy 
to  come  along  (he  was  bringing  letters 
to  mail),  and  at  the  postman's  request 
he  took  us  with  him. 

The  youth  seemed  embarrassed  or  sus- 
picious; at  any  rate,  there  was  absolutely 
nothing  to  be  gotten  out  of  him  as  to 
the  impending  fate  of  his  native  town. 
About  all  we  could  extract  was  the  name 
of  an  inn  where  we  could  get  some  coffee 
when  we  arrived.  The  road  was  without 
shade,  and  went  directly  up  the  steep 
mountainside,  passing  a  noisy  breaker 
where  basaltic  stone  was  being  pounded 
into  shape  for  macadamizing  highways. 

At  this  point  a  side  road  went  off  to 
the  left,  and  the  boy  told  us  to  keep 
"right  on,"  as  he  was  going  to  make  a 
roundabout  tour.  "Gerade  aus"  is  one 
of  the  favorite  directions  on  the  road,  as 
233 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

well  as  one  of  the  most  maddening.  To 
the  one  who  gives  it  it  means  merely  to 
follow  a  well-known  path,  and  he  never 
thinks  of  branching  ways — of  the  possi- 
bility of  a  choice. 

For  another  quarter  of  an  hour  we 
tugged  and  clambered  up  the  steep, 
stony  slope,  which  became  more  and 
more  volcanic  in  appearance.  In  the 
shade  of  large  beech-trees  we  sat  and 
rested  for  awhile  on  big  blocks  of  black 
basalt,  and  then  entered  a  large  quarry 
surrounded  with  disorderly  heaps  of 
broken  stone,  and  situated  at  the  begin- 
ning of  a  dense  pine  forest.  Here  the 
road  on  which  we  were  traveling  made 
a  sharp  turn  in  the  opposite  direction 
from  that  taken  by  the  boy,  and  as  a 
wild-looking  quarryman  told  us  to  go 
"gerade  aus,"  we  took  a  single  stony 
path  and  scrambled  through  the  steep, 
234 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

weird   quarry   and   among   the   spectral 
pines. 

As  we  toiled  up,  Patty  suggested  that 
it  was  a  mercy  to  humankind  to  destroy 
any  village  which  had  to  be  reached  by 
such  an  effort.  The  single  path  grew  less 
and  less  distinct,  and  we  stumbled  over 
rocks  and  mossy  roots  until  we  came  into 
a  grassy  clearing  between  solid  woods  of 
pines  and  beeches.  So  dense  was  their 
growth  that  we  were  for  awhile  entirely 
unable  to  judge  as  to  the  points  of  the 
compass.  The  ground  was  soft  and 
springy,  and  our  progress  slow.  We 
came  to  a  place  where  three  similar  cut- 
tings through  the  forest  diverged.  On 
general  principles  we  took  the  one  to 
the  left,  and  propped  a  large  branch 
against  a  rock  in  order  to  guide  us  back 
if  we  should  be  compelled  to  retrace  our 
steps — which  seemed  highly  probable. 
235 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

All  landmarks  were  lost,  and  our  only 
hope  lay  in  an  instinctive  feeling  that  we 
must  come  out  somewhere  if  we  kept  on. 
Among  the  heather  at  the  roadside  grew 
many  fragrant  red  strawberries,  but  we 
were  too  much  concerned  about  the  way 
tc  think  of  gathering  them.  We  crossed 
lane  after  lane  covered  with  untraveled 
turf  and  running  deep  into  the  woods, 
but  none  showed  any  way  out.  Finally 
we  came  to  a  road  crossing  our  path, 
which  gave  signs  of  considerable  use, 
and  so  we  turned  off  to  the  right,  though 
not  without  misgivings.  The  road 
brought  us  into  a  wonderful  cathedral 
of  towering,  silvery-stemmed  beech- 
trees,  decorated  with  moss  and  showing 
on  their  lower  branches  only  the  lightest 
shimmer  of  green  foliage.  The  surface 
of  the  ground,  so  far  as  we  could  see,  was 
an  unbroken  carpet  of  dry  leaves. 
236 


FROM    BROOM   TO   HEATHER 

Far  off  among  these  dim  aisles  we 
vaguely  made  out  the  figure  of  a  woman, 
apparently  gathering  twigs,  and  with 
great  relief  of  spirit  we  hastened  toward 
her  to  inquire  about  our  way.  She  also 
seemed  to  be  hurrying,  and  I  have  some 
suspicion  that  she  was  collecting  the 
wood  without  permission.  After  a  while 
we  managed  to  catch  up  with  her,  and 
were  told  that  the  traveled  road  would 
soon  bring  us  in  sight  of  Wermerts- 
hausen,  so  we  joyously  retraced  our  way 
among  the  columnar  beeches,  and  the 
road  brought  us  out  upon  an  upper, 
breezy,  well-tilled  plain.  Off  to  the  left 
a  few  roofs  could  be  seen  peering  out 
from  orchards,  while  far  to  the  right  the 
point  of  a  single  spire  rose  from  among 
low  hills.  Which  way  we  were  to  go  was 
a  puzzle,  so  we  kept  "right  on,"  walking 
over  fine  open  turf  almost  as  carpet-like 
237 


FROM    BROOM   TO   HEATHER 

in  texture  as  the  lawns  of  the  Oxford 
quadrangles.  At  last  we  saw  a  family  at 
work  in  a  harvest-field,  and  I  left  the 
others  sitting  by  the  roadside  while  I 
picked  my  way  along  the  edge  of  patches 
of  beets  and  potatoes,  came  within  hail- 
ing distance,  and  learned  that  Wermerts- 
hausen  was  the  village  to  the  left. 

As  we  drew  near  to  the  place  it  became 
evident  that  it  was  by  no  means  a  forlorn 
spot,  but  an  unusually  attractive  one. 
The  quiet  cemetery,  the  first  outpost  of 
the  place,  was  surrounded  by  a  well-kept 
hedge,  and  lifted  up  its  crosses  of  snowy 
marble  as  though  in  protest  against  the 
barbarities  of  war.  The  sun  shone 
brightly,  the  air  was  fresh  and  fine,  over- 
head the  lark  trilled  in  a  delirium  of  ec- 
stasy, and  as  we  entered  the  village  we 
passed  large  gardens  aflame  with  poppies 
or  white  with  tall  lilies.  Most  of  the  in- 
238 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

habitants  were  afield,  but  a  few  old  men 
were  busy  about  the  courtyards,  and  a 
number  of  unusually  neat  and  pretty  chil- 
dren, in  the  gayest  of  costumes,  were 
playing  in  the  streets.  The  houses  were 
well  made  and  in  good  repair.  They 
bore  pious  inscriptions,  such#as: 

"God's  own  Word  and  Luther's  Lore 
Shall  endure  for  evermore." 

On  the  little  tile-roofed  church,  with 
its  slate-covered  cupola  and  round-leaded 
panes,  stands  the  inscription: 


This  church  was  built 

bv   22   men 

SOLI  DEO  GLORIA, 

In    the    year    of  Christ 

Anno  1755. 

O  God,  take  all  into  Thy  care 

Who    to    this    temple   shall    repair. 


Our  inn  was  soon  discovered  by  the 
help  of  its  projecting  sign  bearing  a  glass 
and    a    tankard.      The   guest-room    was 
241 


16 


FROM    BROOM    TO   HEATHER 

empty  except  for  the  landlady,  a  woman 
of  keen  and  refined  appearance,  dressed 
in  Hessian  garb.  She  promised  to  get 
us  coffee  and  to  bring  cheese  if  we  wished 
it,  "although  most  people  would  n't  care 
for  it,  as  it  is  n't  fully  decayed." 

Then  upon  the  well-polished  wooden 
table  she  spread  out  a  heavy  white  cloth 
a  yard  and  a  half  long  and  nearly  a  yard 
wide,  made  of  homespun  linen.  At  inter- 
vals of  a  foot  apart  ran  several  parallel 
bands  of  raised  work,  with  highly  deco- 
rative effect.  When  I  learned  that  the 
flax  had  been  raised  and  spun,  and  the 
linen  woven  and  bleached  in  the  family, 
a  sudden,  uncontrollable  desire  for  the 
possession  of  this  piece  of  cloth  came 
over  me,  and  I  registered  a  vow  that  it 
should  be  mine. 

"We  'd  like  to  know  how  you  're 
going  to  get  it,"  scoffed  the  others. 
242 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

"The  woman  does  n't  look  like  a  person 
who  would  part  very  easily  with  her 
household  treasures." 

"By  natural  amiability,"  said  I:  "that 
method  never  fails."  On  our  manifest- 
ing interest,  the  spinning-wheel  was 
brought  down,  and  bundles  of  flax  and 
wool.  While  eating  our  neatly  served 
repast  we  made  inquiries  about  the  im- 
pending doom  of  the  place.  We  soon 
discovered  that  there  was  a  strong  ro- 
mantic attachment  to  the  village. 

"We  have  everything  in  such  beauti- 
ful order  in  home  and  farm;  I  was  born 
and  brought  up  in  this  very  house,  and  I 
should  be  most  contented  if  we  did  not 
have  to  leave  it  at  all;  but  if  it  has  to 
come,"  she  added,  with  resignation,  "it 
will  have  to  come,  and  that 's  all  there  is 
to  say.  What  could  anybody  possibly 
do  to  prevent  it?  If  the  government  has 
245 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

decided,  there  is  nothing  to  do  but  ac- 
cept." 

While  we  were  conversing,  a  flaxen- 
haired  daughter  of  four  ran  into  the 
room,  and  we  soon  inferred  that  this  was 
the  "spoiled  child"  of  the  home,  and  a 
finished  specimen  of  the  type.  Our 
camera  on  the  table  caught  the  eye  of 
the  fond  mother,  and  with  a  shrewd 
woman's  indirection  she  began  to  tell  of 
the  great  disappointment  they  had  all 
had  in  failing  to  get  a  picture  of  "little 
Ann"  and  her  pretty  peasant  costume 
the  last  time  they  were  in  Marburg. 

'Children,"  said  I,  parenthetically, 
"this  is  a  found  tidbit;"  (we  drop  into 
German  idioms  now  and  then);  "we 
get  a  good  peasant  composition  without 
begging,  and  that  tablecloth  is  as  good 
as  in  my  knapsack." 

My  offer  to  photograph  little  Ann  was 
246 


FROM    BROOM    TO   HEATHER 

promptly  accepted,  and  the  mother  and 
other  relatives  set  about  assembling  her 
holiday  clothing,  which  consisted  of  a 
sea-green  waist  decorated  with  little 
flowers,  a  maroon  accordion-plaited  skirt 
with  flowery  bands  of  ribbon  about  it, 
a  brocaded  kerchief  to  wear  about  the 
shoulders,  and  a  green,  red-bordered  silk 
handkerchief  for  the  neck,  a  blue  cotton 
apron,  bright  blue  stockings  with  red  and 
white  roses  knitted  up  the  sides,  and  tiny 
black  slippers. 

All  went  well  until  little  Ann  suddenly 
decided  that  she  would  n't  be  photo- 
graphed; she  fought  like  a  wildcat  while 
being  dressed,  and  refused,  still  more  vo- 
ciferously, to  be  posed.  It  took  no  less 
than  a  toy  wagon,  a  watch,  and  all  the 
jewelry  in  our  party,  as  well  as  the  assur- 
ance that  the  "strange  man"  was  going 
away,  to  get  her  tolerably  pacified,  after 
249 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

which  a  successful  snapshot  was  made. 
It  is  hardly  necessary  to  add  that  I 
bought  the  tablecloth  at  a  fair  price,  al- 
though Ernestine's  frantic  efforts  to  get 
a  second  one  were  entirely  fruitless. 
The  road  to  Riiddingshausen  was  bor- 


Rl  DD1NGSHAUSEN 


dered  by  great  cherry-trees,  and  brought 
us  in  about  half  an  hour  to  that  prosper- 
ous town  of  eight  hundred  inhabitants. 
At  the  chief  inn  we  encountered  the  same 
spirit  of  resignation  which  we  had  met  in 
the  smaller  village.  Nobody  in  the  place 
knew  definitely  whether  it  was  going  to 
250 


THE  FAMILY  OF  THE  INN 


FROM    BROOM    TO   HEATHER 

be  destroyed  or  not ;  various  government 
officials  had  been  seen  going  about  and 
taking  observations,  but  nobody  in  Riid- 
dingshausen  had  been  told  what  was  to 
happen.  If  the  village  was  to  be  de- 
stroyed, they  would  of  course  have  to 
move  out;  where,  they  had  not  thought 
of  deciding  until  they  should  learn  some- 
thing more  certain. 


253 


Chapter  X 

Rothenburg  the  Mediasval 

BELIEVE  that  Rothenburg- 
above-the-Tauber  is  the  best- 
preserved  specimen  of  an  in- 
teresting mediasval  city  which 
is  to  be  found  in  Germany. 
It  is  but  little  known  to 
Americans,  perhaps  because  it  lies  aside 
from  the  direct  lines  of  European  travel. 
It  can  be  reached  by  a  slow  branch  rail- 
road from  Steinach,  on  the  line  between 
Frankfort  and  Munich.  We  chose,  I 
think,  a  better  way  by  coming  from  the 
south,  fifteen  miles  on  foot  over  the  Ba- 
varian hills,  upon  roads  mostly  bordered 
by  lines  of  loaded  fruit-trees,  among  well- 
254 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

tilled  fields  and  through  a  number  of  the 
picturesque  villages  of  this  secluded  and 
charming  region,  where  the  peasants  are 
all  friendliness  and  hospitality  to  the 
wanderer. 

From  the  south  the  wanderer  has  also 


THE   OUTER    WALL,    ROTHENBIRG 

a  glimpse  of  the  city  from  a  distance, 
surrounded  with  its  circle  of  wall  and 
crowned  with  its  many  towers,  like  the 
famous  view  of  Jerusalem  which  first 
greeted  the  devout  pilgrim  before  the 
days  of  railroads.  To  me  this  first  view 
'I7  257 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

gave  something  of  the  joy  which  the  ex- 
plorer feels  on  sighting  an  unknown  land, 
for  (although  I  have  since  learned  my 
error)  I  regarded  myself  as  the  discov- 
erer of  Rothenburg,  having  been  led  to 
my  search  merely  by  a  beautiful  portfolio 
of  colored  prints  which  I  unearthed  in 
the  German  department  of  the  World's 
Fair  in  Chicago.  The  hills  on  which  the 
city  lies  rise  abruptly  on  the  east  side  of 
the  valley  of  the  Tauber,  an  unpreten- 
tious stream,  full  of  windings  and  show- 
ing many  pretty  features  along  its  steep 
slopes;  here  a  high  bridge  with  a  double 
row  of  arches;  near  by  a  Gothic  chapel; 
further  an  old  mill,  and  a  quaintly-built 
manor  house  peering  from  among  the 
green  trees  which  border  the  stream. 
The  gray  walls  in  complete  preservation 
make  the  circuit  of  the  city,  which  is  en- 
tered by  six  gates,  each  protected  by 
258 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

outer  works  and  towers;  the  heavy  gates 
can  still  be  locked  with  their  old  keys, 
as  in  the  ancient  days  of  war.  The  an- 
cient town  has  played  an  important  part 
in  the  history  of  "The  Holy  Roman  Em- 
pire of  the  German  Nation"  from  the 
earliest  days,  and  well-known  emperors, 
such  as  Rudolph  of  Hapsburg,  who  made 
it  a  "free  city"  of  the  empire;  Maximilian, 
and  Charles  the  Fifth  resided  for  a  time 
within  its  walls.  In  the  stormy  days  of 
the  Peasants'  War  and  the  Thirty  Years' 
War  it  was  likewise  involved  in  the 
events  which  at  those  times  affected  all 
Germany. 

We  entered  the  city  through  the  Hos- 
pital Gate  on  the  south  side,  which  is 
protected  by  a  deep  moat  and  elaborate 
bastions  and  stone  battlements,  as  well 
as  by  a  high  tower.  The  outer  rounded 
arch,  crowned  by  a  sun-dial,  and  bearing 
259 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

the  date   1586,  gives  a  hospitable  wel- 
come with  its  carved  motto: 


PAX    INTRANTIBVS 
SALVS    EXEVNTIBVS. 


The  heavy  inner  gate  has  a  thick 
Gothic  arch,  and  is  flanked  by  rounded 
towers  with  loopholes  for  bowmen,  and 
covered  with  a  tiled  roof  supported  on 
massive  oaken  timbers.  The  gates  lead 
into  the  long  Hospital  Street,  and  at 
once  on  entering  one  gains  the  impres- 
sion of  a  city  of  the  Middle  Ages,  even 
to  minute  details.  The  houses  are  for 
the  most  part  high-gabled  buildings  with 
much  timber  work,  various  styles  of 
architecture  representing  different  pe- 
riods in  the  city's  long  history.  Across 
the  street  still  hang  the  lanterns  on 
chains,  as  in  old  Paris.  The  street  leads 
into  the  heart  of  the  city,  the  old  market- 
260 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

place,  though  before  reaching  this  an- 
other high  gate-tower  is  passed,  which 
marks  the  line  of  fortifications 
of  the  older  or  inner  city,  whose 
limits  are  still  plainly  indicated. 
The  chief  ornament  of  the 
great  market-place  is  an  elab- 
orate fountain,  with  a  high  col- 
umn on   which  is  a  statue  of 
Saint  George  and  the  dragon; 
but  the  feature  which 
attracts  most  attention 
is     the     superb    town 
hall,     rising 
on  the  west 
side,     and 
uniting  in 
its  two  parts 

,*  /-a       .  i     •  A   STREET    IN    ROTHENBURG 

the     Gothic 

and  renaissance  styles  into  a  harmonious 

whole. 

261 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

The  older  Gothic  part  was  built  in 
1240,  and  is  conspicuous  for  its  bold  and 
graceful  tower,  square  below  and  octag- 
onal above,  decorated  with  statues  and 
crowned  with  a  platform  and  belfry.  In 
this  building  we  discovered  at  once  the 
motive  of  the  central  part  of  the  German 
Government  building  at  the  World's 
Fair,  the  elaborate  facade  of  which  made 
so  striking  a  feature  of  the  promenade 
on  the  lake  shore.  The  "new"  building, 
with  its  imposing  front  and  noble  arcade, 
rises  directly  from  the  market,  and  was 
built  in  1572;  it  is  an  impressive  reminder 
of  the  wealth  and  public  spirit  of  the  city 
in  the  days  of  its  prosperity.  Within  is 
the  great  hall  or  Kaisersaal,  a  huge  room 
two  stories  high,  now  chiefly  used  for 
holding  each  year  the  historic  play,  "Der 
Meistertrunk,"  which  perpetuates  a  tra- 
ditional event  of  the  Thirty  Years'  War. 
262 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

In  1 63 1,  Count  Tilly  with  his  Imperial 
troops  captured  the  city,  which  was  on 
the  side  of  the  Reformation.  Exasper- 
ated by  its  stubborn  resistance,  he  re- 
solved to  put  to  death  the  burgomaster, 
Nutsch,  and  the  whole  Council,  and  sum- 
moned them  before  him  in  his  hall.  The 
beautiful  niece  of  the  mayor  fell  upon  her 
knees  before  the  count,  praying  for 
mercy.  With  grim  humor  Tilly  pointed 
to  an  immense  beaker  of  wine,  saying: 
"If  the  burgomaster  will  drink  that  down 
at  one  draught  I  will  spare  the  city." 
Commending  himself  to  the  Divine  as- 
sistance, the  doughty  mayor  drained  the 
bumper — a  miraculous  feat,  to  judge 
from  the  duplicate  of  the  glass  which  is 
preserved  in  the  building.  The  happy 
issue  softened  the  stern  heart  of  the  con- 
queror, the  occupation  of  the  city  was 
changed  into  a  merry  festival,  and  in  gay 
263 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

procession  conquerors  and  conquered 
rode  out  of  the  gates  and  visited  the 
camp  of  the  besiegers.  Every  year  the 
details  of  this  event  are  reproduced  in 
dramatic  form  with  full  costumes  and  ac- 
cessories, and  the  play  in  the  town  hall 
ends  with  the  procession  through  the  city 
to  "Tilly's  Camp."  A  good  account  of 
this  play,  with  illustrations,  was  given  in 
Harper's  Magazine  some  years  ago. 

In  the  old  tower  of  the  town  hall  hangs 
the  Sinners'  Bell,  which,  in  old  times, 
was  rung  when  a  criminal  was  being  led 
to  execution.  Our  guide  informed  us. 
without  the  slightest  trace  of  humor,  that 
it  was  used  now  only  to  bring  together 
the  Common  Council.  Under  the  older 
part  of  the  building  are  vaulted  chambers 
containing  the  ancient  archives.  The 
guide  lifted  a  small  board  fitted  into  the 
floor,  and  showed  a  shaky  ladder  leading 
264 


f.^ 


m 


\\\\  \\ 


OLD  WELL  IN  ROTHENBURG 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

into  gloomy  underground  chambers,  the 
mediaeval    torture-room,    and    the    dun- 
geons.   In  the  first  are  still  to  be  seen  the 
bench,   the   stone  weights,   and   a   half- 
decayed  winch,  by  means  of  which  the 
unfortunate     victims     were     suspended. 
The  prison  cells  are  entirely  dark,  and 
entered  by  double  doors  bound  with  iron. 
In  one  of  these  cells  Rothenburg's  great- 
est burgomaster,  Toppler,  under  whom 
the  city  reached  its  highest  development, 
perished  of  hunger  in  1408,  or,  according 
to    another    tradition,  •  died    of    poison, 
which  a  faithful  companion,  disguised  as 
a  pilgrim,  managed  to  bring  to  him.    He 
was  accused  of  treason  by  envious  ene- 
mies.    Toppler's  dwelling-house,  an  im- 
posing   building    in    Gothic    style,    still 
stands  under  the  name  of  the  Griffin  Inn, 
and  is  one  of  the  many  patrician  homes 
which  make  a  characteristic  feature  of 
267 


FROM    BROOM   TO    HEATHER 

the  architecture  of  the  city.  They  differ 
from  the  large  houses  of  many  old  Ger- 
man cities,  which  combine  trade  pur- 
poses with  domestic  uses,  in  that  they 
were  designed  solely  for  a  well-to-do 
home  life.  They  rise  to  a  great  height, 
and  have  usually  a  projecting  low  win- 
dow built  at  one  corner,  a  feature  also 
reproduced  in  the  German  building  at 
the  Fair.  Many  of  them  bear  inscrip- 
tions telling  of  royal  or  imperial  guests 
who  were  sheltered,  doubtless  with 
princely  hospitality,  under  their  roofs. 
Such  entertainment  was  very  agreeable 
to  the  mediaeval  emperors,  to  judge  from 
the  numerous  signs  of  their  presence. 

Rothenburg  has  also  a  number  of  an- 
cient churches,  full  of  the  most  interest- 
ing architectural  details,  often  in  small 
and  unexpected  features,  which  cause  the 
heart  of  the  lover  of  the  antique  to  laugh 
268 


FROM    BROOM    TO   HEATHER 

for  joy.  Chief  among  the  churches  is  the 
tall  Jakobskirche,  in  many  respects  sim- 
ilar to  the  well-known  minster  at  Ulm, 
and,  like  the  latter,  containing  some  mar- 
velous specimens  of  carving  in  stone  and 
dark-colored  oak,  and  of  old  stained- 
glass  with  inimitable  rich  hues.  At  eight 
o'clock  each  morning  the  children  of  the 
Protestant  public  schools  gather  in  this 
noble  building,  and  begin  the  day  with  a 
simple  service,  partly  choral,  in  which 
all  take  a  hearty  part,  and  their  fresh 
young  voices  make  the  tall  arches  vibrate 
in  harmony  with  the  rolling  tones  of  the 
great  organ.  We  attended  such  an  im- 
pressive service  near  the  close  of  the 
school  year,  and  heard  a  wholesome  little 
sermon  preached  to  the  children.  The 
whole  feature  seemed  a  very  reverent, 
appropriate,  and  beautiful  beginning  of 
each  schoolday. 

269 


FROM    BROOM    TO   HEATHER 

In  a  street  passage  near  the  church  can 
be  seen  a  dark  spot  on  the  upper  part  of 
the  arch,  connected  with  which  the  fol- 
lowing legend  is  related:  "The  Rothen- 
burgers  had  never  had  much  opinion  of 
the  devil,  because  he  had  once  let  him- 
self be  outwitted  by  an  old  woman;  but 
inasmuch  as  he  had  long  since  found  his 
way  to  the  place  and  had  noticed  this 
contempt,  he  determined  to  give  a  strik- 
ing exhibition  of  his  power.     Once  as  a 
peasant  was  passing  through  this  gate- 
way on  a  sacred  holiday,  and  was  cursing 
in  the  most  outrageous  fashion,  the  fiend 
suddenly  sprang  out  of  the  little  door  in 
the  side  of  the  gateway  and  flung  the 
man  high  up  against  the  wall.     His  life- 
less body  fell  down,  but  the  wretched 
soul  still  remained  hanging  on  the  wall, 
where  it  can  be  observed  to  this  very  day. 
It  has  a  brown  color,  spotted  with  black." 
270 


FROM    BROOM    TO   HEATHER 

St.  Wolfgang's  Church  stands  upon 
the  spot  where  earlier  was  a  simple  shrine 
in  honor  of  the  patron  saint  of  shepherds. 
It  was  completed  in  1483,  and  is  unique 
in  being  built  on  one  side  in  a  rich  and 
highly-developed  Gothic  style,  and  on 
the  other  side  forming  a  part  of  the  city 
wall  and  fortifications.  The  side  which 
looks  outward  is  firmly  strengthened  by 
arched  masonry  and  provided  with  ar- 
row-slits, which  pierce  the  inside  wall  of 
the  church.  By  means  of  a  narrow  wind- 
ing staircase  there  was  an  exit  from  the 
interior  of  the  church  to  a  semi-circular 
part  of  the  wall,  which  begins  at  the 
church  and  ends  at  one  of  the  city  gates. 
Behind  the  altar  is  a  portal  which  leads 
to  a  subterranean  passage,  going  under- 
neath the  church  and  thence  out  into  the 
open  country.  In  this  small  edifice, 
which  might  well  serve  as  a  place  of  wor- 

18  273 


FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

ship  for  the  Church  militant,  a  sermon  to 
shepherds  is  still  preached  every  year  on 
St.  Wolfgang's-day,  in  pursuance  of  the 
provisions  of  an  ancient  bequest. 

The  circuit  of  the  city  just  outside  the 
walls  makes  a  very  enjoyable  promenade, 
especially  along  the  edge  of  the  steep 
valley  of  the  Tauber,  and  in  this  tour  one 
comes  to  the  site  of  the  citadel  in  the 
days  of  the  Hohenstaufen,  the  cradle  of 
Rothenburg's  development.  A  long, 
tongue-like  projection  juts  out  from  the 
city  toward  the  southwest,  rising  sharply 
from  the  valley  on  three  sides.  Here  not 
only  stood  the  ancient  castle,  but  on  this 
spot,  beneath  the  shade  of  trees  and 
under  the  free  heavens,  was  held  the 
High  Court  of  Justice,  the  presiding  offi- 
cer sitting  on  a  bench  of  stone  and  the 
spectators  standing  about  in  a  circle  in 
old  Germanic  fashion.  The  castle  has 
274 


— »•■ .  -1QHHK^BgM|H|  0 

•  - 

«" 

:  -J  V. 

Jiff 

#    4 

1 

fj    _           

FROM    BROOM    TO    HEATHER 

long  since  disappeared,  and  even  the 
ruins  have  vanished,  their  place  being 
taken  by  a  lovely  park,  in  whose  shade 
one  can  dream  away  delightful  hours  in 
the  enjoyment  of  a  panorama  whose 
beauty  can  hardly  be  surpassed. 

Rothenburg  would  well  repay  a  much 
longer  visit  than  we  could  make;  it  is, 
in  fact,  a  favorite  residence  for  artists, 
who  spend  months  in  sketching  its  inter- 
esting features.  It  possesses  an  excellent 
hotel,  "The  Stag,"  built  on  the  city  wall, 
and  having  a  number  of  rooms  in  the 
back  part  of  the  building  which  look 
down  into  the  charming  valley  of  the 
Tauber.  The  city  naturally  suggests 
comparison  with  that  other  treasure- 
house  of  quaintness,  Nuremberg.  While 
it  has  not  the  huge  gate-towers  of  the 
latter,  nor  the  heaped-up  masses  of  its 
frowning  citadel,  it  offers  in  astonishing 
277 


FROM    BROOM   TO    HEATHER 

completeness  a  series  of  perfectly  pre- 
served relics  of  the  Middle  Ages.  Nu- 
remberg has  become  a  bustling  city,  sur- 
rounded by  countless  factories,  and 
rapidly  putting  on  the  garb  of  modern 
improvements.  The  current  of  busy  life 
has  not  yet  reached  Rothenburg,  and  the 
departed  spirits  of  its  worthy  burghers 
seem  still  walking  its  streets. 


278 


UNIV.  OF  CALIF.  LIBRARY,  LOS  ANGELES 


A     000  196  783 


